Sample records for deportivos pura sangre

A potentially useful decentralized source of energy is biogas, which is an approximately 60:40 mixture of methane (CH{sub 4}) and carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}), produced by the anaerobic fermentation of cellulosic biomass materials such as bovine wastes. Since 1987, the traditional system of obtaining water, illumination, and fertilizer in Pura village in south India has been replaced with a community biogas plant electricity-generation system. The technical, managerial, and economical aspects of this system are the subject manner of the present paper. Various subsystems are described, and the problems of operation and maintenance under field conditions are also discussed. A comparison of Pura`s present community biogas system with its traditional means for obtaining water, illumination, and fertilizer shows that the households are winners on all counts, having obtained such benefits as improved hygiene and convenience at relatively low cost. The Pura community biogas plant is held together and sustained by the convergence of individual and collective interests. Noncooperation with the community biogas plant results in a heavy individual price (access to water and light being cut off by the village), which is too great a personal loss to compensate for the minor advantages of noncooperation and noncontribution to collective interests.

There is no record of the beginning of time in the Sangre de Cristo Range. Almost 3 billion years of Earth history are missing, but the rest is on spectacular display in this rugged mountain landscape. This is the geologic story of the Sangre de Cristo Range.

The Spanish Peaks, on the eastern flank of the Sangre de Cristo range, abruptly rise 7,000 feet above the western Great Plains. Settlers, treasure hunters, trappers, gold and silver miners have long sighted on these prominent landmarks along the Taos branch of the Santa Fe trail. Well before the westward migration, the mountains figured in the legends and history of the Ute, Apache, Comanche, and earlier tribes. 'Las Cumbres Espanolas' are also mentioned in chronicles of exploration by Spaniards including Ulibarri in 1706 and later by de Anza, who eventually founded San Francisco (California). This exceptional view (STS108-720-32), captured by the crew of Space Shuttle mission STS108, portrays the Spanish Peaks in the context of the southern Rocky Mountains. Uplift of the Sangre de Cristo began about 75 million years ago and produced the long north-trending ridges of faulted and folded rock to the west of the paired peaks. After uplift had ceased (26 to 22 million years ago), the large masses of igneous rock (granite, granodiorite, syenodiorite) that form the Peaks were emplaced (Penn, 1995-2001). East and West Spanish Peaks are 'stocks'-bodies of molten rock that intruded sedimentary layers, cooled and solidified, and were later exposed by erosion. East Peak (E), at 12,708 ft is almost circular and is about 5 1/2 miles long by 3 miles wide, while West Peak (W), at 13,623 ft is roughly 2 3/4 miles long by 1 3/4 miles wide. Great dikes-long stone walls-radiate outward from the mountains like spokes of a wheel, a prominent one forms a broad arc northeast of East Spanish Peak. As the molten rock rose, it forced its way into vertical cracks and joints in the sedimentary strata; the less resistant material was then eroded away, leaving walls of hard rock from 1 foot to 100 feet wide, up to 100 feet high, and as long as 14 miles. Dikes trending almost east-west are also common in the region. For more information visit: Sangres.com: The Spanish Peaks (accessed January 16

5q31.3 microdeletion syndrome is characterized by neonatal hypotonia, encephalopathy with or without epilepsy, and severe developmental delay, and the minimal critical deletion interval harbors three genes. We describe 11 individuals with clinical features of 5q31.3 microdeletion syndrome and de novo mutations in PURA, encoding transcriptional activator protein Pur-α, within the critical region. These data implicate causative PURA mutations responsible for the severe neurological phenotypes observed in this syndrome. PMID:25439098

This report describes the mineral and chemical composition of immature, arkosic sandstones of the Pennsylvanian Minturn and Pennsylvanian and Permian Sangre de Cristo Formations, which were derived from the Ancestral Rocky Mountains. Located in the Sangre de Cristo Range of southern Colorado, the Minturn and Sangre de Cristo Formations contain some of the most immature, sodic arkoses shed from the Ancestral Rocky Mountains. The Minturn Formation was deposited as fan deltas in marine and alluvial environments; the Sangre de Cristo Formation was deposited as alluvial fans. Arkoses of the Minturn and Sangre de Cristo Formations are matrix-rich and thus may be properly considered arkosic wackes in the terminology of Gilbert (Williams and others, 1954). In general, potassium feldspar and plagioclase are subequal in abundance. Arkose of the Sangre de Cristo Formation is consistently plagioclase-rich; arkose from the Minturn Formation is more variable. Quartz and feldspar grains are accompanied by a few percent rock fragments, consisting mostly of intermediate to granitic plutonic rocks, gneiss, and schist. All of the rock fragments seen in sandstone are present in interbedded conglomerate, consistent with derivation from a Precambrian terrane of gneiss and plutonic rocks much like that exposed in the present Sangre de Cristo Range. Comparison of mineral and major oxide abundances reveals a strong association of detrital quartz with SiO2, all other detrital minerals (totaled) with Al2O3, potassium feldspar plus mica with K2O, and plagioclase with Na2O. Thus, major oxide content is a good predictor of detrital mineralogy, although contributions from matrix and cement make these relationships less than perfect. Detrital minerals and major oxides tend to form inverse relationships that reflect mixtures of varying quantities of minerals; when one mineral is abundant, the abundance of others declines by dilution. In arkose of the Minturn and Sangre de Cristo Formations, the

Background Purα is an evolutionarily conserved cellular protein participating in processes of DNA replication, transcription, and RNA transport; all involving binding to nucleic acids and altering conformation and physical positioning. The distinct but related roles of Purα suggest a need for expression regulated differently depending on intracellular and external signals. Results Here we report that human PURA (hPURA) transcription is regulated from three distinct and widely-separated transcription start sites (TSS). Each of these TSS is strongly homologous to a similar site in mouse chromosomal DNA. Transcripts from TSS I and II are characterized by the presence of large and overlapping 5'-UTR introns terminated at the same splice receptor site. Transfection of lung carcinoma cells with wild-type or mutated hPURA 5' upstream sequences identifies different regulatory elements. TSS III, located within 80 bp of the translational start codon, is upregulated by E2F1, CAAT and NF-Y binding elements. Transcription at TSS II is downregulated through the presence of adjacent consensus binding elements for interferon regulatory factors (IRFs). Chromatin immunoprecipitation reveals that IRF-3 protein binds hPURA promoter sequences at TSS II in vivo. By co-transfecting hPURA reporter plasmids with expression plasmids for IRF proteins we demonstrate that several IRFs, including IRF-3, down-regulate PURA transcription. Infection of NIH 3T3 cells with mouse cytomegalovirus results in a rapid decrease in levels of mPURA mRNA and Purα protein. The viral infection alters the degree of splicing of the 5'-UTR introns of TSS II transcripts. Conclusions Results provide evidence for a novel mechanism of transcriptional control by multiple promoters used differently in various tissues and cells. Viral infection alters not only the use of PURA promoters but also the generation of different non-coding RNAs from 5'-UTRs of the resulting transcripts. PMID:21062477

Paleozoic sedimentary rocks in a wide area of the northern Sangre de Cristo Range show effects of heating during Tertiary time. Heating is tentatively interpreted as a response to burial during Laramide folding and thrusting and also to high heat flow during Rio Grande rifting. Fission-track ages of apatite across a section of the range show that rocks cooled abruptly below 120oC, the blocking temperature for apatite, approx 19 Ma ago. Cooling was probably in response to rapid uplift and erosion of the northern Sangre de Cristo Range during early Rio Grande rifting.-from Authors

Middle-ear mucosa maintains middle-ear pressure. However, the majority of surgical cases exhibit inadequate middle-ear mucosal regeneration, and mucosal transplantation is necessary in such cases. The aim of the present study was to assess the feasibility of transplantation of isolated mucosal cells encapsulated within synthetic self-assembling peptide nanofiber scaffolds using PuraMatrix, which has been successfully used as scaffolding in tissue engineering, for the repair of damaged middle-ear. Middle-ear bullae with mucosa were removed from Sprague Dawley (SD) transgenic rats, transfected with enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) transgene and excised into small pieces, then cultured up to the third passage. After surgical elimination of middle-ear mucosa in SD recipient rats, donor cells were encapsulated within PuraMatrix and transplanted into these immunosuppressed rats. Primary cultured cells were positive for pancytokeratin but not for vimentin, and retained the character of middle-ear epithelial cells. A high proportion of EGFP-expressing cells were found in the recipient middle-ear after transplantation with PuraMatrix, but not without PuraMatrix. These cells retained normal morphology and function, as confirmed by histological examination, immunohistochemistry, and electron microscopy, and multiplied to form new epithelial and subepithelial layers together with basement membrane. The present study demonstrated the feasibility of transplantation of cultured middle-ear mucosal epithelial cells encapsulated within PuraMatrix for regeneration of surgically eliminated mucosa of the middle-ear in SD rats. PMID:23926427

The purpose of this study is to examine the character of grain-scale deformation adjacent to a Laramide thrust fault in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. This site represents a window through the hanging wall of a thrust sheet which juxtaposes Precambrian rocks over Pennsylvanian rocks. It provides a rare opportunity to examine deformation mechanisms in the footwall of a basement-involved thrust. Brittle deformation is evident at both outcrop and grain-scale. Filled fractures and slickensides composed of quartz and epidote are present throughout the area, and increase in abundance adjacent to the fault zone, as does the frequency of mesoscopic faulting. Variations in deformation mechanisms can be seen between the Precambrian rocks of the thrust sheet and the Pennsylvanian metasedimentary rocks, and between the metamorphosed arkoses and metapelites within the Pennsylvanian section. Cataclastic textures are present in deformed Precambrian rocks, and the degree of cataclasis is greatest immediately adjacent to the fault zone. Deformation in the Pennsylvanian rocks is largely dependent upon the abundance of fine-grained matrix within each sample. The degree of brittle deformation is negatively correlated to the percentage of matrix. Coarser-grained sections show microscopic faults which offset quartz and feldspar grains. Offsets decrease on the faults as they pass from coarse grains into the matrix.

In many areas of the Rocky Mountains, elk (Cervus elaphus) migrate from low-elevation mountain valleys during spring to high-elevation subalpine and alpine areas for the summer. Research has focused on the impacts of elk herbivory on winter-range plant communities, particularly on woody species such as willow and aspen; however, little information is available on the effects of elk herbivory on alpine willows. In the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of south central Colorado, select alpine areas appear to receive high levels of summer elk herbivory, while other areas are nearly unbrowsed. In 2005 and 2008, we measured willow height, cover, and utilization on sites that appeared to be used heavily by elk, as well as on sites that appeared to be used lightly, to determine differences between these communities over time. We found less willow cover and shorter willows at sites that received higher levels of browsing compared to those that had lower levels of browsing. Human recreational use was greater at lightly browsed sites than at highly browsed sites. From 2005 to 2008, willow utilization declined, and willow cover and height increased at sites with heavy browsing, likely owing to ownership change of adjacent valley land which led to (1) removal of grazing competition from, cattle at valley locations and (2) increased human use in alpine areas, which displaced elk. We discuss the implications of increased human use and climate change on elk use of these alpine habitats. ?? 2011.

We developed an in vivo vascularization model in which human endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs) and human mesenchymal progenitor cells (MPCs) form blood vessel networks when co-injected (ECFC + MPC) into nude mice in rat tail type I collagen, bovine fibrin or synthetic peptide PuraMatrix matrices. We used three approaches to determine the onset of functional vascularization when ECFC + MPC suspended in these matrices were implanted in vivo. The first was immunohistochemistry to detect vessels lined by human endothelial cells and filled with red blood cells. The second was in vivo vascular staining by tail vein injection of a mixture of Ulex europaeus agglutinin I (UEA-I), a lectin specific for human endothelium, and Griffonia simplicifolia isolectin B4 (GS-IB4 ), a lectin specific for rodent endothelium. The third approach employed contrast-enhanced ultrasound to measure the perfusion volumes of implants in individual animals over time. Human endothelial-lined tubular structures were detected in vivo on days 1 and 2 after implantation, with perfused human vessels detected on days 3 and 4. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound revealed significant perfusion of ECFC + MPC/collagen implants on days 1-4, at up to 14% perfused vascular volume. ECFC + MPC implanted in fibrin and PuraMatrix matrices also supported perfusion at day 1, as assessed by ultrasound (at 12% and 23% perfused vascular volume, respectively). This model demonstrates that ECFC + MPC suspended in any of the three matrices initiated a rapid onset of vascularization. We propose that ECFC + MPC delivered in vivo provide a means to achieve rapid perfusion of tissue-engineered organs or for in situ tissue repair. PMID:23955835

The total reactive antioxidant potential (TRAP) of 'Sangre de Drago' from Croton lechleri (Euphorbiaceae) was determined by monitoring the intensity of luminol enhanced chemiluminescence enhanced by peroxyl radicals derived from thermolysis of 2,2'-azo-bis(2-amidinopropane). The TRAP index was calculated as 935.4 +/- 141 microM, measured as equivalents of Trolox concentration. On the other hand, the additive incorporation of lower concentrations yielded an instantaneous increase in chemiluminescence, suggesting a prooxidant activity at these levels. DNA sugar damage induced by Fe(II) salts was also used to determine the capacity of the latex to suppress hydroxyl radical-mediated degradation of DNA. As in the case of luminol enhanced chemiluminescence, Sangre de Drago was highly effective in reducing oxidation of DNA at higher concentrations, but showed an increase in the production of TBARS at lower doses, as compared to the control. Finally, antioxidant activity was tested using hydroperoxide-initiated chemiluminescence in rat liver homogenates, and the latex showed an increase in light emission, suggesting the presence of prooxidant compounds. PMID:9406898

Recently active faults of the Rio Grande rift near the Colorado-New Mexico border are almost entirely limited to the San Luis basin. In contrast, the early (≈26 to ≈10 Ma) structure of the rift in this area is significantly broader. A wide zone of abandoned, peripheral extensional structures is exposed on the eastern flank of the San Luis basin—in the west half of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, known in this area as the southern Culebra and northern Taos Ranges. New detailed mapping shows that the eastern limit of the zone of early peripheral extension is marked by an aligned series of north-trending grabens, including the Devil’s Park, Valle Vidal, and Moreno Valley basins. Master faults of these intermontaine basins are partly localized along, and evidently reactivated moderate- to high-angle Laramide (≈70 to ≈40 Ma) reverse faults of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Between these grabens and the San Luis basin lies a structural zone that varies in style from block faulting, in the north, to more closely spaced tilted-domino-style faulting in the Latir volcanic field, to the south. Additional early rift structures include several long northwest-striking faults, the largest of which are interpreted to have accommodated significant right-lateral strike-slip, based on abrupt southwestward increase in the magnitude of extension across them. These faults evidently transferred strain from the axial part of the rift into the zone of early peripheral extension, and accommodated lateral changes in structural style. Throughout the area of early peripheral extension, there is a correlation between the magnitude of local volcanism and the degree of extension; however, it is unclear if extension drove volcanism—via mantle upwelling, or if extension was maximized where the crust was weakest, owing to the presence of magma and hot rock at shallow depths.

Cultivation of neural stem/progenitor cells (NS/PCs) in PuraMatrix (PM) hydrogel is an option for stem cell transplantation. The efficacy of a novel method for placing adult rat NS/PCs in PM (injection method) was compared to encapsulation and surface plating approaches. In addition, the efficacy of injection method for transplantation of autologous NS/PCs was studied in a rat model of brain injury. NS/PCs were obtained from the subventricular zone (SVZ) and cultivated without (control) or with scaffold (three-dimensional cultures; 3D). The effect of different approaches on survival, proliferation, and differentiation of NS/PCs were investigated. In in vivo study, brain injury was induced 45 days after NS/PCs were harvested from the SVZ and phosphate buffered saline, PM, NS/PCs, or PM+NS/PCs were injected into the brain lesion. There was an increase in cell viability and proliferation after injection and surface plating of NS/PCs compared to encapsulation and neural differentiation markers were expressed seven days after culturing the cells. Using injection method, transplantation of NS/PCs cultured in PM resulted in significant reduction of lesion volume, improvement of neurological deficits, and enhancement of surviving cells. In addition, the transplanted cells could differentiate in to neurons, astrocytes, or oligodendrocytes. Our results indicate that the injection and surface plating methods enhanced cell survival and proliferation of NS/PCs and suggest the injection method as a promising approach for transplantation of NS/PCs in brain injury. PMID:27038753

The Pennsylvanian Minturn and Pennsylvanian-Permian Sangre de Cristo Formations of the northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains comprise a 3,800-m (12,500-ft) thick progradational sequence of coarse clastic sediments shed into a basin on the northeastern side of the late Paleozoic San Luis-Uncompahgre highland. From bottom to top, the mostly marine Minturn Formation contains probable deltaic (700 m, 2,300 ft), mixed fan-delta and prodelta (800 m, 2,600 ft), and fan-delta (600 m, 2,000 ft) deposits; the mostly continental Sangre de Cristo Formation contains distal alluvial fan (600 m, 2,000 ft) and proximal alluvial fan (1,100m 3,600 ft) deposits. At least three episodes of uplift are indicated by the distribution of unconformities, geometry of intertonguing facies, and abrupt vertical changes in facies. The deltaic and mixed fan-delta and prodelta deposits of the lower and middle parts of the Minturn Formation consist of coarsening-upward cycles 30 to 300 m (100 to 1,000 ft) thick of shale, siltstone, sandstone, and conglomeratic sandstone. The mixed deposits in the middle part of the Minturn contain cycles of shale, proximalturbidite sandstones, and conglomeratic sandstone; such cycles are interpreted as deposits of submarine fans overridden by fan deltas. Continental deposits of the lower member of the Sangre de Cristo Formation consist of fining-upward cycles 2 to 37 m (6.5 to 121 ft) thick of cross-bedded conglomerate, sandstone, and siltstone deposited by braided streams on the distal parts of alluvial fans.

Arkosic conglomerates and sandstones of the Pennsylvanian-Permian Sangre de Cristo Formation of south-central Colorado were deposited on alluvial plains and nearshore marine shelves adjacent to the highlands of the Ancestral Rocky Mountains. Thin limestone units occur locally, however calcite content of arkoses varies independent of these limestones. The thinly bedded to laminated arkoses contain abundant detrital orthoclase and plagioclase feldspars, micas and quartz. Authigenic clay (kaolinite) and calcite occur both as void-filling cement and replacement of feldspars. Fine-grained arkoses possess more calcite and authigenic clay than their coarse-grained counterparts. Calcite occurs as plagioclase replacement in fine-grained samples whereas in coarse-grained rocks it fills interstitial voids. Calcite content in fine-grained arkoses is low where laminae are preserved and increases with the presence of bioturbation. Diagenetic processes responsible for calcite and clay content of these arkoses were controlled by several factors including original sediment texture, composition, and grain orientation. Plagioclase has been altered to produce calcite and clay more than orthoclase. Permeability of coarse-grained rocks was higher and resulted in primarily void-filling cement. In fine-grained arkoses, permeability was less and water remained in contact with grains longer thereby altering plagioclase. Aligned mica grains of laminae retarded flow and impeded diagenetic alteration whereas bioturbation disrupted grain orientation thereby enhancing diagenesis.

In the course of exploring for gold along the east margin of the Rio Grande Rift (northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains and northeastern San Luis Basin) live Cretaceous oil was discovered in fractured Precambrian gneiss in 25 of 42 shallow drill holes. Geologic mapping located two outcrops of Mesozoic sediments along the west flank of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Mancos Shale, Dakota Group and Morrison Formation sediments were identified from 17 drill holes. These are the first known occurrences of Mesozoic sediments in the area. Previous investigations had concluded that the Mesozoic section eroded from the San Luis uplift during the Laramide. Surface and subsurface geologic data was integrated with gravity, magnetic and seismic surveys for a new structural interpretation. The San Luis Basin is separated from the mountains by an intermediate block and the main basin-bounding fault is three miles west-southwest of the mountain front. A major low-angle, normal fault or detachment fault is related to Miocene rifting. A thick section of Mesozoic sediments are interpreted to be present in the hanging wall of this low angle fault. Buried and thermally matured in a Laramide intermountane basin, these sediments are likely the source of the present day oil found in Precambrian rocks.

The discovery of live Cretaceous oil in mineral exploration drill holes, followed by the identification of Mesozoic sediments in outcrop and in shallow drill holes, has lead to an integrated approach to exploration of a structurally complex, frontier oil play in south-central Colorado. Gravity, aeromagnetic, magnetotelluric (MT), and time domain electromagnetic (TDEM) data were acquired and interpreted in the initial stages of the project. Models derived from the geophysical data were augmented with geologic field work to explain specific anomalies. Interpretation of the gravity data was constrained by density measurements on representative rock samples collected in the field. Seismic data, acquired in the most recent exploration stage, provided confirmation and modification of the basin margin geometry. Velocity data from the seismic was integrated with resistivity, density, magnetic and geologic data to predict lithologies on an intermediate fault block located between the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the San Luis Basin.

The Minturn and Madera formations of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains are laterally equivalent facies made up of interbedded carbonates and terrigenous clastic material deposited in the central Colorado trough during the mid Pennsylvanian period. To date, the Whiskey Creek Pass Ls Member (WCPLs) of the upper Minturn and Madera Fm. is the only marker unit of south-central Colorado that has been lithostratigraphically correlated for more than a few miles. This correlation is largely the result of the relative abundance of pure oolitic constituents within the WCPLs. As of yet, there has been no significant petrographic study of the lithologic character of the WCPLs. The WCPLs is well exposed in south-central Colorado containing overturned beds that dip approximately 70[degree] to the west. Six stratigraphic sections were measured and described from three separate localities: four sections were measured and described from three separate localities: four sections were measured on the north ridge of Trinchera Peak, one section at La Veta Pass, and one on Forbes Ranch near Fort Garland. Petrographic analysis shows that similar bioclastic constituents including brachiopods, echinoderms, mollusks, and foraminifera are found within all sections. These fossils are usually found in thin bands surrounded by oolitic and/or sandy limestone layers. Both radial and tangential ooids are evident but many are poorly preserved due to internal replacement by sparite. Oolitic nuclei are commonly composed of quartz, feldspar or bioclasts. Sparite or microspar is the main cementing agent. Diagenetic features such as compaction, syntaxial overgrowths, and replacement are common. Preliminary analysis suggests deposition occurred in a shallow marine environment close to an area of relatively high relief. Oolitic shoals and marginal lagoons predominate with siliclastic material suggesting proximal or distal localities of deposition for various units.

An attempt to model the complex thermal and mechanical phenomena occurring in the disposal of high-level nuclear wastes in rock at high power loading is described. Such processes include melting of the rock, convection of the molten material, and very high stressing of the rock mass, leading to new fracturing. Because of the phase changes and the wide temperature ranges considered, realistic models must provide for coupling of the thermal and mechanical calculations, for large deformations, and for steady-state temperature-depenent creep of the rock mass. Explicit representation of convection would be desirable, as would the ability to show fracture development and migration of fluids in cracks. Enhancements to SNAGRE consisted of: array modifications to accommodate complex variations of thermal and mechanical properties with temperature; introduction of the ability of calculate thermally induced stresses; improved management of the minimum time step and minimum temperature step to increase code efficiency; introduction of a variable heat-generation algorithm to accommodate heat decay of the nuclear materials; streamlining of the code by general editing and extensive deletion of coding used in mesh generation; and updating of the program users' manual. The enhanced LLNL version of the code was renamed LSANGRE. Phase changes were handled by introducing sharp variations in the specific heat of the rock in a narrow range about the melting point. The accuracy of this procedure was tested successfully on a melting slab problem. LSANGRE replicated the results of both the analytical solution and calculations with the finite difference TRUMP code. Following enhancement and verification, a purely thermal calculation was carried to 105 years. It went beyond the extent of maximum melt and into the beginning of the cooling phase.

The reference section was measured by tape and compass in the summer of 1980; observations were recorded on a microcassette tape recorder in the field and transcribed in the office. This method permitted rapid acquisition of data on thickness, mature of contacts, color, grain size, and sedimentary features. These data are shown on the graphic section for each distinct rock unit. Rock units having common attributes or genetic relationships have been grouped together for descriptive and interpretative purposes.

Southwestern Wyoming is located at the margin of the Archean Wyoming craton but has experienced significant deformation as a result of both the Sevier and Laramide orogenies. This study focuses on the nature and extent of this deformation and its interactions with structures within the Precambrian basement. We used about 350 km of newly released industry seismic reflection data along with gravity data, satellite imagery, and drilling information in an integrated analysis focusing on the north-south trending Rock Springs uplift, the northwest-trending Wind River uplift and the west-east trending Sweetwater uplift. These features form arches that are bounded by the Green River, Wind River, Great Divide, and the Washakie basins (Fig. 1). An example of the seismic data is shown in Figure 2 displays structural complexity at the northeast boundary of the Great Divide basin involving high-angle reverse faults with northeast dips. The fault that lies roughly in the middle of the line is interpreted to be the southeastern extension of the Wind River thrust, and the fault at the northeast end of the line is interpreted to be the Mormon Trail thrust. A gravity profile was modeled as a medium to integrate all of the data. This model of the upper crust indicates the presence of inhomogeneities in the Archean basement that have not been recognized previously. The basement northeast of the Wind River thrust contains considerable reflectivity indicating folding or fabric that either reflects or controls Laramide structures. The interweaving of reflectors in one line resemble imbricate structures shown in the CD-ROM Cheyenne belt deep reflection profile and could be related to an ancient structural boundary within the basement. Our analysis shows that the multiple thrusts bounding the Sweetwater uplift occur near major inhomogeneities in the Precambrian basement. Spatial relations we observe are consistent with the hypothesis that anastomosing arches characterize Laramide foreland deformation because the large positive gravity anomalies associated with the Wind River and Sweetwater uplifts smoothly merge.

This article explores the role of profanity and graphic humor in the bilingual wordplay of Latin@ middle school students. We highlight the creativity, skill, and communicative competence embedded in this transgressive wordplay, revealing how these youth employed profanity and graphic humor to index ethnic solidarity and construct bilingual…

In this report, we present detailed maps of the trenches and a compilation of field and laboratory data used to support our interpretation of the history of four (PE1-PE4) prehistoric surface-faulting earthquakes at this site.

Remote sensor data from a NASA Convair 990 radar flight and Mission 101 and 105 have been interpreted and evaluated. Based on interpretation of the remote sensor data, a geologic map has been prepared and compared with a second geologic map, prepared from interpretation of both remote sensor data and field data. Comparison of the two maps gives one indication of the usefulness and reliability of the remote sensor data. Color and color infrared photography provided the largest amount of valuable information. Multiband photography was of lesser value and side-looking radar imagery provided no new information that was not available on small scale photography. Thermal scanner imagery proved to be a very specialized remote sensing tool that should be applied to areas of low relief and sparse vegetation where geologic features produce known or suspected thermal contrast. Low sun angle photography may be a good alternative to side-looking radar imagery but must be flown with critical timing.

The upper part of the Minturn contains numerous occurrences of stratiform uranium and copper that were examined and sampled in order to document the concentration and distribution of metals within the established stratigraphic framework. The occurrences studied are classified according to the inferred depositional setting of the host rock in order to assess the extent of paleogeographic and paleohydrologic control of mineralized horizons.

The main turbidite member is the thickest and most extensive of the intervals of prodelta turbidites in the Minturn Formation. Each turbidite interval is part of a coarsening upward sequence interpreted as a prograding fan delta. A typical prograding cycle consists of prodelta marine shale and siltstone, prodelta turbidite sandstones, delta-front sandstone and conglomerate, and deltaic and alluvial-plain sandstone, siltstone, and shale. Fossils of 1and plants (mostly Calamites, including some in growth position) are locally abundant in deltaic and alluvial sediments of the prograding cycles. The turbidites are regarded as having been deposited offshore from alluvial systems.

A delta igf mutation of Bacillus subtilis (formerly called fdpAl) is a large deletion causing pleiotropic defects. The mapping of the delta igf deletion by phage PBS1 transduction revealed the following map order: sacA, thiC, hsrE, delta igf, ts199, purA. To analyze the pleiotropic nature of the delta igf mutation, mutants affected in each property of the pleiotropic mutation were isolated, and the mutations were mapped. iol and gnt mutants could not grow on inositol and gluconate, respectively, and fdp mutants were affected only in fructose-bisphosphatase. The map order from sacA to purA was as follows: sacA, thiC, hsrE, iol-6, gnt-4, fdp-74, hsrB, ts199, purA. The delta igf deletion covered loci from iol-6 to hsrB. PMID:6302085

Risk evaluation scales are used as part of prevention strategies for pressure ulcers (PUs). Two of the more used scales, the Braden and Waterlow Pressure Ulcer Risk Assessment Scales (B-PURAS and W-PURAS, respectively) are used in Turkey and worldwide, and their validity in terms of sensitivity, specificity, and predictive validity have been examined in various studies. To determine nurses' opinions of B-PURAS and W-PURAS in terms of administration time, practicality, clarity, and perceived ability to encompass PU risks and accurately predict PUs, a descriptive study was conducted from October 15, 2011 to November 20, 2011 at a university hospital among nurses who volunteered to participate. Demographic information collected and assessed included age, highest degree of education completed, and practice area. Participants were trained to use both scales by researchers during a 1-hour session and asked to use them for 2 weeks in their daily practice. The nurses then completed a paper-and-pencil, 12-item questionnaire measuring agreement with general questions about PURAS with options to provide comments. In addition, the questionnaire contained 3 openended questions on scale preference, 1 question to rate perceived scale accuracy in predicting PUs, and the opportunity to recommend changes to the scales. Data were analyzed using SPSS 20.0. Frequencies, percentages, and Spearman's rank correlations were calculated. Eighty-three (83) registered nurses (mean age 27.46 ± 3.73, mean nursing experience 6.53 ± 3.25 [range 0.5-16] years) participated; 18.1% of the nurses had prior experience using such scales, and none of the clinics in the study facility had used PU risk scales previously. Most participants (71, 85.5%) had a bachelor's degree, 62 (74.7%) worked in a facility that admitted patients at high risk for developing PU, but 66 (almost 80%) saw fewer than 4 ulcers per week. Each nurse performed an average of 22 assessments during the study for a total of 1

The present research was conducted to study the intergenerational differences in parental beliefs of the Lobana community in the rural district of Jammu in the Jammu and Kashmir state of India. The sample comprised 30 mothers and 30 grandmothers, selected from the R.S. Pura tehsil of the Jammu district. Data was collected using a modified parental…

This publication reviews the books from the major national children's book awards and lists. The following awards are covered: John Newberry Awards, Randolph Caldecott Awards, Coretta Scott King Awards, Mildred L. Batchelder Awards, Pura Belpre, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, and the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. The lists are…

Craniofacial tissue loss due to traumatic injuries and congenital defects is a major clinical problem around the world. Cleft palate is the second most common congenital malformation in the United States occurring with an incidence of 1 in 700. Some of the problems associated with this defect are feeding difficulties, speech abnormalities and dentofacial anomalies. Current treatment protocol offers repeated surgeries with extended healing time. Our long-term goal is to regenerate bone in the palatal region using tissue-engineering approaches. Bone tissue engineering utilizes osteogenic cells, osteoconductive scaffolds and osteoinductive signals. Mesenchymal stem cells derived from human umbilical cord (HUMSCs) are highly proliferative with the ability to differentiate into osteogenic precursor cells. The primary objective of the study was to characterize HUMSCs and culture them in a 3D hydrogel scaffold and investigate their osteogenic potential. PuraMatrix(TM) is an injectable 3D nanofiber scaffold capable of self-assembly when exposed to physiologic conditions. Our second objective was to investigate the effect of Bone Morphogenic Protein 2 (BMP2) in enhancing the osteogenic differentiation of HUMSCs encapsulated in PuraMatrix(TM). We isolated cells isolated from Wharton's Jelly region of the umbilical cord obtained from NDRI (New York, NY). Isolated cells satisfied the minimal criteria for mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) as defined by International Society of Cell Therapy in terms of plastic adherence, fibroblastic phenotype, surface marker expression and osteogenic differentiation. Flow Cytometry analysis showed that cells were positive for CD73, CD90 and CD105 while negative for hematopoietic marker CD34. Alkaline phosphatase activity (ALP) of HUMSCs showed peak activity at 2 weeks (p<0.05). Cells were encapsulated in 0.2% PuraMatrix(TM) at cell densities of 10x104, 20x104, 40x10 4 and 80x104. Cell viability with WST and proliferation with Live-Dead cell assays

The authority to regulate public utilities in Texas is generally vested in the Public Utilities Commission. The Commission is comprised of three members appointed by the governor, with the advice of at least two-thirds of the senate, for a six-year term. Prior to the passage of the Texas Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURA) in 1975, the power to regulate public utilities was vested almost exclusively in municipalities. Under PURA, municipalities retain exclusive original jurisdiction over all electric, water, and sewer utilities within the municipality. PURA provides that all regulations pertaining to public utilities promulgated by local regulatory agencies remain in effect unless they are superceded by Commission rules. The municipality's governing body is required to exercise its regulatory authority under rules and standards consistent with those promulgated by the Commission. The Commission has exclusive appellate jurisdiction to review orders and ordinances of regulatory municipalities. Public utility regulatory statutes, energy facility siting programs, and municipal franchising authority are examined to identify how they may impact on the ability of an organization, whether or not it be a regulated utility, to construct and operate an ICES.

22. Photographic copy of 1889 linen drawing of reservoir. Approximately two and a half feet by four feet. Delineator unknown, original currently located in the Sangre de Cristo Water Company files. - Two Mile Reservoir, Santa Fe River, intersection of Canyon & Cerro Gordo Roads, Santa Fe, Santa Fe County, NM

21. Photographic copy of 1915 linen drawing of reservoir and hydroelectric power plant. Approximately seven feet by three and one half feet. Delineator unknown, original currently located in the Sangre de Cristo Water Company drawing files. - Two Mile Reservoir, Santa Fe River, intersection of Canyon & Cerro Gordo Roads, Santa Fe, Santa Fe County, NM

... Things to Know About Zika & Pregnancy Blood Test: Glucose KidsHealth > For Parents > Blood Test: Glucose Print A A A Text Size What's in ... de sangre: glucosa What It Is A blood glucose test measures the amount of glucose (the main ...

23. Photographic copy of 1883 ink and water color drawing of the Old Stone Dam. Original located in the office of the director of the Sangre de Cristo Water Company. - Two Mile Reservoir, Santa Fe River, intersection of Canyon & Cerro Gordo Roads, Santa Fe, Santa Fe County, NM

United World College of the American West (UWC-USA) which was founded in 1982 by the Occidental Petroleum magnate and philanthropist, Armand Hammer, is an upper-secondary school with 200 students and two dozen faculty from 80 countries or more. Situated amid traditional Hispanic settlements in New Mexico's scenic Sangre de Cristo Mountains,…

The Pecos River of the nineteenth century, unlike its faint twenty-first century shadow, was a formidable watercourse. The river stretches some 755 miles, from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains northeast of Santa Fe to its eventual merger with the Rio Grande. Control over the public domain of southeastern New Mexico came from controlling access to…

The OEO-funded Sangre de Cristo Comprehensive Health System in Costilla and Conejos Counties, Colorado, and northern Taos County, New Mexico, utilizes medical practitioners who are certified to practice a variety of medical techniques under the supervision of licensed physicians. (JM)

Mosca Pass Trail takes the hiker on a journey into the Earth's crust. Here you can see the results of tremendous tectonic forces that bend and tear rocks apart and raise mountain ranges. The trail begins near the Sangre de Cristo fault, which separates the Sangre de Cristo Range from the San Luis Valley. The valley is part of the Rio Grande rift, a series of fault basins extending from southern New Mexico to central Colorado, wherein the Earth's crust has been pulled apart during the last 30 million years. Thousands of feet of sediment, brought by streams mostly from the Sangre de Cristo Range, fill the San Luis Valley beneath the Great Sand Dunes. The trail ends at Mosca Pass overlooking Huerfano Park. The park is part of the larger Raton Basin, formed by compression of the Earth's crust during the Laramide orogeny, which occurred 70–40 million years ago. Massive highlands, the remnants of which are preserved in the Sangre de Cristo Range, were uplifted and pushed over the western side of the Raton Basin. Streams eroded the highland as it rose and filled the Raton Basin with sediment. After the sediment was compacted and cemented to form sedimentary rock, the Huerfano River and other streams began to excavate the basin. Over an unknown but long timespan that probably lasted millions of years, relatively soft sedimentary rocks were removed by the river to form the valley we call "Huerfano Park." Between the ends of the trail, the hiker walks through an erosional "window," or opening, into red sedimentary rocks overridden by gneiss, a metamorphic rock, during the Laramide orogeny. This window gives the hiker a glimpse into the Laramide highland of 70–40 million years ago that preceded the present-day Sangre de Cristo Range. The window is the focus of this trail guide. At the east end of the trail, near Mosca Pass, another trail follows the ridgeline south to Carbonate Mountain. Immediately after reaching the first summit above tree line, this trail crosses a

This Special Issue of Biophysical Chemistry presents a selection of the contributions presented at the XXII National Congress of the Italian Society of Pure and Applied Biophysics (i.e., SIBPA, Società Italiana di Biofisica Pura ed Applicata) held on September 2014 in Palermo, Italy. Topics cover all biophysical disciplines, from molecular to cellular, to integrative biophysics giving a comprehensive view of the inter- and multi-disciplinary approach of modern biophysics. SIBPA, which turned 40 in 2013, continues to grow and attract interest. PMID:26572561

We derive the quantitative modulus of continuity which we conjecture to be optimal for solutions of the p-degenerate two-phase Stefan problem. Even in the classical case p = 2, this represents a twofold improvement with respect to the early 1980's state-of-the-art results by Caffarelli- Evans (Arch Rational Mech Anal 81(3):199-220, 1983) and DiBenedetto (Ann Mat Pura Appl 103(4):131-176, 1982), in the sense that we discard one logarithm iteration and obtain an explicit value for the exponent α( n, p).

This geologic map covers four 7.5-minute quadrangles-The Wall, NM-CO (New Mexico-Colorado), Vermejo Park, NM-CO, Ash Mountain, NM, and Van Bremmer Park, NM. The study area straddles the boundary between the eastern flank of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the western margin of the Raton Basin, with about two-thirds of the map area in the basin. The Raton Basin is a foreland basin that formed immediately eastward of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains during their initial uplift, in the Late Cretaceous through early Eocene Laramide orogeny. Subsequently, these mountains have been extensively modified during formation of the Rio Grande rift, from late Oligocene to present. The map area is within that part of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains that is called the Culebra Range. Additionally, the map covers small parts of the Devil's Park graben and the Valle Vidal half-graben, in the northwestern and southwestern parts of the map area, respectively. These two grabens are small intermontaine basins, that are satellitic to the main local basin of the Rio Grande rift, the San Luis Basin, that are an outlying, early- formed part of the rift, and that separate the Culebra Range from the Taos Range, to the southwest.

Cell therapy in experimental models of Parkinson's disease replaces the lost dopamine neurons (DAN), but we still need improved methods to guide dopaminergic axons (DAx) of grafted neurons to make proper connections. The protein Semaphorin 3C (Sema3C) attracts DAN axons and enhances their growth. In this work, we show that the hydrogel PuraMatrix, a self-assembling peptide-based matrix, incorporates Sema3C and releases it steadily during 4 weeks. We also tested if hydrogel-delivered Sema3C attracts DAx using a system of rat midbrain explants embedded in collagen gels. We show that Sema3C released by this hydrogel attracts DAx, in a similar way to pretectum, which is known to attract growing DAN axons. We assessed the effect of Sema3C on the growth of DAx using microfluidic devices. DAN from rat midbrain or those differentiated from human embryonic stem cells showed enhanced axonal extension when exposed to hydrogel-released Sema3C, similar to soluble Sema3C. Notably, DAN of human origin express the cognate Sema3C receptors, Neuropilin1 and Neuropilin2. These results show that PuraMatrix is able to incorporate and release Sema3C, and such delivery guides and promotes the axonal growth of DAN. This biocompatible hydrogel might be useful as a Sema3C carrier for in vivo studies in parkinsonian animal models. PMID:27174503

Cell therapy in experimental models of Parkinson's disease replaces the lost dopamine neurons (DAN), but we still need improved methods to guide dopaminergic axons (DAx) of grafted neurons to make proper connections. The protein Semaphorin 3C (Sema3C) attracts DAN axons and enhances their growth. In this work, we show that the hydrogel PuraMatrix, a self-assembling peptide-based matrix, incorporates Sema3C and releases it steadily during 4 weeks. We also tested if hydrogel-delivered Sema3C attracts DAx using a system of rat midbrain explants embedded in collagen gels. We show that Sema3C released by this hydrogel attracts DAx, in a similar way to pretectum, which is known to attract growing DAN axons. We assessed the effect of Sema3C on the growth of DAx using microfluidic devices. DAN from rat midbrain or those differentiated from human embryonic stem cells showed enhanced axonal extension when exposed to hydrogel-released Sema3C, similar to soluble Sema3C. Notably, DAN of human origin express the cognate Sema3C receptors, Neuropilin1 and Neuropilin2. These results show that PuraMatrix is able to incorporate and release Sema3C, and such delivery guides and promotes the axonal growth of DAN. This biocompatible hydrogel might be useful as a Sema3C carrier for in vivo studies in parkinsonian animal models. PMID:27174503

Pur-alpha is a ubiquitous multifunctional protein that is strongly conserved throughout evolution, binds to both DNA and RNA and functions in the initiation of DNA replication, control of transcription and mRNA translation. In addition, it binds to several cellular regulatory proteins including the retinoblastoma protein, E2F-1, Sp1, YB-1, cyclin T1/Cdk9 and cyclin A/Cdk2. These observations and functional studies provide evidence that Puralpha is a major player in the regulation of the cell cycle and oncogenic transformation. Puralpha also binds to viral proteins such as the large T-antigen of JC virus (JCV) and the Tat protein of human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) and plays a role in the cross-communication of these viruses in the opportunistic polyomavirus JC (JCV) brain infection, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). The creation of transgenic mice with inactivation of the PURA gene that encodes Puralpha has revealed that Puralpha is critical for postnatal brain development and has unraveled an essential role of Puralpha in the transport of specific mRNAs to the dendrites and the establishment of the postsynaptic compartment in the developing neurons. Finally, the availability of cell cultures from the PURA knockout mice has allowed studies that have unraveled a role for Puralpha in DNA repair. PMID:19182532

Adenylosuccinate synthetase (EC. 6.3.4.4) encoded by purA in Bacillus subtilis, catalyzing the first step of the conversion of IMP to AMP, plays an important role in flux distribution in the purine biosynthetic pathway. In this study, we described the use of site saturation mutagenesis to obtain a desired enzyme activity of adenylosuccinate synthetase and its application in flux regulation. Based on sequence alignment and structural modeling, a library of enzyme variants was created by a semi-rational evolution strategy in position Thr238 and Pro242. Other than purA deletion, the leaky mutation purA(P242N) partially reduced the flux towards AMP derived from IMP and increased the riboflavin synthesis precursor GTP, while also kept the requirement of ATP synthesis for cell growth. PurA(P242N) was introduced into an inosine-producing strain and resulted in an approximately 4.66-fold increase in inosine production, from 0.088±0.009g/L to 0.41±0.051g/L, in minimal medium without hypoxanthine accumulation. These results underline that the directed evolution of adenylosuccinate synthetase could tailor its activities and adjust metabolic flux. This mutation may provide a promising application in purine-based product accumulation, like inosine, guanosine and folate which are directly stemming from purine pathway in B. subtilis. PMID:27234879

This Oil Bypass Filter Technology Evaluation quarterly report (October–December 2004) details the ongoing fleet evaluation of oil bypass filter technologies being conducted by the Idaho National Laboratory (INL; formerly Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory) for the U.S. Department of Energy’s FreedomCAR & Vehicle Technologies Program. Eight INL four-cycle diesel-engine buses used to transport INL employees on various routes and six INL Chevrolet Tahoes with gasoline engines are equipped with oil bypass filter systems from the puraDYN Corporation. This quarter, three additional buses were equipped with bypass filters from Refined Global Solutions. Oil bypass filters are reported to have an engine oil filtering capability of less than 1 micron. Both the puraDYN and Refined Global Solutions bypass filters have a heating chamber to remove liquid contaminate from the oil. During the quarter, the eleven diesel engine buses traveled 62,188 miles, and as of January 3, 2005 the buses had accumulated 643,036 total test miles. Two buses had their engine oil changed this quarter. In one bus, the oil was changed due to its degraded quality as determined by a low total base number (<3.0 mg KOH/g). The other bus had high oxidation and nitration numbers (>30.0 Abs/cm). Although a total of six buses have had their oil changed during the last 26 months, by using the oil bypass filters the buses in the evaluation avoided 48 oil changes, which equates to 1,680 quarts (420 gallons) of new oil not consumed and 1,680 quarts of waste oil not generated. Therefore, over 80% of the oil normally required for oil-changes was not used, and, consequently, the evaluation achieved over 80% reduction in the amount of waste oil normally generated. The six Tahoe test vehicles traveled 39,514 miles, and as of January 3, 2005 the Tahoes had accumulated 189,970 total test miles. The Tahoe filter test is in transition. To increase the rate of bypass filter oil flow on the Tahoes

Strontium-87/strontium-86 ratios indicate the sources of strontium in samples of natural waters, vegetation, and soil material taken from watersheds in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico. More than 75 percent of the strontium in the vegetation is ultimately derived from atmospheric transport and less than 25 percent from the weathering of the underlying rock. Much of the airborne strontium enters the watersheds by impacting on coniferous foliage, but deciduous foliage apparently traps little, if any, strontium-bearing aerosol. The strontium and presumably other nutrients are continuously recycled in a nearly closed system consisting of upper soil horizons, forest litter, and the standing crop of vegetation.

Strontium-87/strontium-86 ratios indicate the sources of strontium in samples of natural waters, vegetation, and soil material taken from watersheds in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico. More than 75 percent of the strontium in the vegetation is ultimately derived from atmospheric transport and less than 25 percent from the weathering of the underlying rock. Much of the airborne strontium enters the watersheds by impacting on coniferous foliage, but deciduous foliage apparently traps little, if any, strontium-bearing aerosol. The strontium and presumably other nutrients are continuously recycled in a nearly closed system consisting of upper soil horizons, forest litter, and the standing crop of vegetation. PMID:17798277

The paper contains results of new investigations in Lithuania of the first occurrences of terrestrial molluscs in calcareous tufa (travertine), carbonate content and radiocarbon dating. Terrestrial fossil molluscs (35 taxa) prevail in the mollusc fauna, while freshwater species are much more rare (6 taxa). The Dūkšta terrestrial mollusc fauna embraces a complex of thermophiles including such forest species as Acicula polita (Hartmann), Acanthinula aculeata (Müller), Aegopinella cf. pura (Alder), Bulgaria cana (Held) and Discus cf. rotundatus (Müller), as well as mainly South European Carychium tridentatum (Risso) and mainly West European Vertigo moulinsiana (Dupuy). The radiocarbon age of the sediments was found to correspond to the end of the Atlantic climatic period and the beginning of the Subboreal.

Seven species of bees from the eastern United States, representing four families in the Apoidea, were dissected and examined for nematode associates. Dufour's glands in females of Halictus ligatus, Augochlora pura mosieri, and Augochlorella gratiosa (Halictidae) from Florida were infested with dauer juveniles of Aduncospiculum halicti (Diplogasteridae). The Dufour's glands of Colletes thoracicus (Colletidae) females from Maryland were infested with dauer juveniles of a new species of Koerneria sp. (Diplogasteridae), and abdominal glands of females of Andrena alleghaniensis (Andrenidae) from New York were infested with dauer juveniles of another new species of Koerneria. The lateral and median oviducts, Dufour's glands, and poison sacs in females of Anthophora abrupta (Anthophoridae) from Maryland and Alabama were infested with dauer juveniles of a new species of Bursaphelenchus sp. (Aphelenchoididae). Cross sections of the nematode-infested poison sacs of A. abrupta revealed two types of humoral host defense reactions. PMID:19287704

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been shown to epigenetically regulate certain genes in human cells. Here we report evidence for the involvement of an antisense lncRNA in the transcriptional regulation of the pluripotency-associated factor Oct4. When an lncRNA antisense to Oct4-pseudogene 5 was suppressed, transcription of Oct4 and Oct4 pseudogenes 4 and 5 was observed to increase. This increase correlated with a loss of silent state epigenetic marks and the histone methyltransferase Ezh2 at the Oct4 promoter. We observed this lncRNA to interact with nucleolin and PURA, a 35 kD single-stranded DNA and RNA binding protein, and found that these proteins may act to negatively regulate this antisense transcript. PMID:21151833

Efficient and reliable protoplasting, regeneration, and fusion techniques were established for the prototrophic strain Bacillus stearothermophilus NUB36. Auxotrophic mutants were isolated, and protoplast fusion was used to construct isogenic mutant strains and for chromosomal mapping. Markers were mapped using two-, three-, and four-factor crosses. The order of the markers was hom-1-thr-1-his-1-(gly-1 or gly-2)-pur-1-pur-2. These markers may be analogous to hom, thrA, hisA, glyC, and purA markers on the Bacillus subtilis chromosome. No analogous pur-1 marker has been reported in B. subtilis. The relative order of three of the markers (hom-1-thr-1-gly-1) was independently confirmed by transduction.

This report details the initial activities to evaluate the performance of the oil bypass filter technology being tested by the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) for the U.S. Department of Energy's FreedomCAR & Vehicle Technologies Program. Eight full-size, four-cycle diesel-engine buses used to transport INEEL employees on various routes have been equipped with oil bypass systems from the puraDYN Corporation. Each bus averages about 60,000 miles a year. The evaluation includes an oil analysis regime to monitor the presence of necessary additives in the oil and to detect undesirable contaminants. Very preliminary economic analysis suggests that the oil bypass system can reduce life-cycle costs. As the evaluation continues and oil avoidance costs are quantified, it is estimated that the bypass system economics may prove increasingly favorable, given the anticipated savings in operational costs and in reduced use of oil and waste oil avoidance.

This report details the initial activities to evaluate the performance of the oil bypass filter technology being tested by the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) for the U.S. Department of Energy's FreedomCAR & Vehicle Technologies Program. Eight full-size, four-cycle diesel-engine buses used to transport INEEL employees on various routes have been equipped with oil bypass systems from the puraDYN Corporation. Each bus averages about 60,000 miles a year. The evaluation includes an oil analysis regime to monitor the presence of necessary additives in the oil and to detect undesirable contaminants. Very preliminary economic analysis suggests that the oil bypass system can reduce life-cycle costs. As the evaluation continues and oil avoidance costs are quantified, it is estimated that the bypass system economics may prove increasingly favorable, given the anticipated savings in operational costs and in reduced use of oil and waste oil avoidance.

The ERBB2 gene (HER2/neu) is overexpressed in many human breast cancers. It is an important therapeutic target and its product protein is a key biomarker for breast cancer. A 28-bp GGA repeat sequence (Pu28-mer) in the nuclease hypersensitive site of the ERBB2 promoter region may play an important role in the regulation of ERBB2 transcription, possibly involving the formation of a G-quadruplex. In order to investigate this possibility, an affinity MALDI-MS approach was used for in vitro protein capture from nuclear extracts from cultured MCF-7 and BT-474 cancer cells at Pu28-mer and control oligonucleotide-modified surfaces. Captured proteins from MCF-7 cells were analyzed by LC-MS/MS. Based on these results, Western blot was then used to interrogate captured proteins from both MCF-7 and the Her-2/neu-positive BT-474 cells. Results support the formation of a G-quadruplex by Pu28-mer, indicated by circular dichroism spectroscopy, that selectively captures transcription factors including Ku70, Ku80, PURA, nucleolin, and hnRNP K. Chromatin immunoprecipitation confirmed binding of Ku70, Ku80, PURA, and nucleolin to ERBB2 promoter in the live BT-474 cells. These findings may lead to a better understanding of the role of non-duplex DNA structures in gene regulation and provide a more complete picture of the regulation of ErbB2 expression in breast cancer. The results also provide a blueprint for development of "genome-inspired" aptamers based on the Pu28-mer sequence for in vitro and in vivo detection of proteins related to regulation of ERBB2 gene expression and breast cancer. PMID:22899247

Genome sequencing projects on two relapsing fever spirochetes, Borrelia hermsii and Borrelia turicatae, revealed differences in genes involved in purine metabolism and salvage compared to those in the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. The relapsing fever spirochetes contained six open reading frames that are absent from the B. burgdorferi genome. These genes included those for hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (hpt), adenylosuccinate synthase (purA), adenylosuccinate lyase (purB), auxiliary protein (nrdI), the ribonucleotide-diphosphate reductase alpha subunit (nrdE), and the ribonucleotide-diphosphate reductase beta subunit (nrdF). Southern blot assays with multiple Borrelia species and isolates confirmed the presence of these genes in the relapsing fever group of spirochetes but not in B. burgdorferi and related species. TaqMan real-time reverse transcription-PCR demonstrated that the chromosomal genes (hpt, purA, and purB) were transcribed in vitro and in mice. Phosphoribosyltransferase assays revealed that, in general, B. hermsii exhibited significantly higher activity than did the B. burgdorferi cell lysate, and enzymatic activity was observed with adenine, hypoxanthine, and guanine as substrates. B. burgdorferi showed low but detectable phosphoribosyltransferase activity with hypoxanthine even though the genome lacks a discernible ortholog to the hpt gene in the relapsing fever spirochetes. B. hermsii incorporated radiolabeled hypoxanthine into RNA and DNA to a much greater extent than did B. burgdorferi. This complete pathway for purine salvage in the relapsing fever spirochetes may contribute, in part, to these spirochetes achieving high cell densities in blood. PMID:17502392

Bacteria possessing multiple copies of 16S rRNA (rrs) gene demonstrate high intragenomic heterogeneity. It hinders clear distinction at species level and even leads to overestimation of the bacterial diversity. Fifty completely sequenced genomes belonging to 19 species of Lactobacillus species were found to possess 4-9 copies of rrs each. Multiple sequence alignment of 268 rrs genes from all the 19 species could be classified into 20 groups. Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis TMW 1.1304 was the only species where all the 7 copies of rrs were exactly similar and thus formed a distinct group. In order to circumvent the problem of high heterogeneity arising due to multiple copies of rrs, 19 additional genes (732-3645 nucleotides in size) common to Lactobacillus genomes, were selected and digested with 10 Type II restriction endonucleases (RE), under in silico conditions. The following unique gene-RE combinations: recA (1098 nts)-HpyCH4 V, CviAII, BfuCI and RsaI were found to be useful in identifying 29 strains representing 17 species. Digestion patterns of genes-ruvB (1020 nts), dnaA (1368 nts), purA (1290 nts), dnaJ (1140 nts), and gyrB (1944 nts) in combination with REs-AluI, BfuCI, CviAI, Taq1, and Tru9I allowed clear identification of an additional 14 strains belonging to 8 species. Digestion pattern of genes recA, ruvB, dnaA, purA, dnaJ and gyrB can be used as biomarkers for identifying different species of Lactobacillus. PMID:27407290

This Oil Bypass Filter Technology Evaluation quarterly report (April–June 2005) details the ongoing fleet evaluation of engine oil bypass filter technologies being conducted by the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) for the U.S. Department of Energy’s FreedomCAR & Vehicle Technologies Program. Eleven INL four-cycle diesel-engine buses and six INL Chevrolet Tahoes with gasoline engines are equipped with oil bypass filter systems. Eight of the buses and the six Tahoes are equipped with oil bypass filters from the puraDYN Corporation; the remaining three buses are equipped with oil bypass filters from Refined Global Solutions. Both the puraDYN and Refined Global Solutions bypass filters have a heating chamber to remove liquid contaminates from the engine oil. During the April to June 2005 reporting quarter, the eleven diesel engine buses traveled 85,663 miles. As of June 30, 2005, the buses had accumulated 829,871 total test miles. During this quarter, seven regularly scheduled 12,000-mile bus service events were performed. Bus 73449 had its oil accidentally changed on 5/17/05 during servicing. Two buses had mechanical problems which required the oil to be changed: Bus 73446 had an injector failure and Bus 73413 had a broken “dip stick” fitting on the oil pan, both of which introduced contaminants. Buses 73432 and 73433 began the idling phase of the INL Diesel Engine Idling Wear-Rate Evaluation Test. Throughout the 35 months of evaluation, only six oil changes were performed on the INL buses because of degraded oil quality from normal operations. This is a 90% reduction of oil consumption (490 gallons saved) and a concurrent 90% reduction (490 gallons) of waste oil generation. Another six oil changes were performed due to mechanical problems and accidental oil changes. The six Tahoe test vehicles traveled 28,688 miles, and as of June 30, 2005, the Tahoes had accumulated 260,116 total test miles.

Uranium-bearing copper deposits occur in steeply dipping beds of the Sangre de Cristo formation of Pennsylvanian and Permian(?) age south of Coyote, Mora County, N. Mex. Mapping and sampling of these deposits indicate that they are found in lenticular carbonaceous zones in shales and arkosic sandstones. Samples from these zones contain as much as 0.067 percent uranium and average 3 percent copper. Metatyuyamunite is dissemihatedin some of the arkosic sandstone beds, and uraninite is present in some of the copper sulfide nodules occurring in the shale. These sulfide nodules are composed principally of chalcocite but include some bornite, covellite, pyrite, and malachite. Most of the samples were collected near the surface from the weathered zone. The copper and uranium were probably deposited with the sediments and concentrated into zones during compaction and lithification. Carbonaceous material in the Sangre de Cristo formation provided the environment that precipitated uranium and copper from mineral-charged connate waters forced from the clayey sediments.

The age of the Great Sand Dunes has been debated for nearly 150 yr. Seven ages ranging from Miocene to late Holocene have been proposed for them. This paper presents new information—chiefly subsurface stratigraphic data, OSL dates, and geomorphic evidence—that indicates that the Great Sand Dunes began to form in the latter part of the middle Pleistocene. The dunes overlie a thick wedge of piedmont-slope deposits, which in turn overlies sediment of Lake Alamosa, a paleolake that began to drain about 440 ka. The wedge of piedmont-slope deposits extends westward for at least 23 km and is as much as 60 m thick at a distance of 10 km from the Sangre de Cristo Range. Ostracodes from one well indicate that the eastern shoreline of Lake Alamosa extended to within 4.3 km of where the Great Sand Dunes eventually formed. The time represented by the wedge of piedmont-slope deposits is not known exactly, but the wedge post-dates 440 ka and was in place prior to 130 ka because by then the dunes overlying it were sufficiently close and tall enough to obstruct streams draining from the Sangre de Cristo Range.

Tectonic interpretation of the east margin of the Espanola Basin, Rio Grande rift, New Mexico, has been controversial. Previous authors have disagreed as to whether significant faulting defines the boundary between the basin and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. A more recent geophysical basin transect that suggests no significant faulting and field observation of faceted spurs along the western Sangre de Cristo Mountain front indicating a faulted margin motivate our study. The east margin of the Espanola Basin for about 37 km north of Santa Fe, New Mexico, is marked by a complex array of significant, late Cenozoic high-angle faults. Locally, three parallel, north-trending, high-angle faults cut Precambrian basement and Tertiary basin-full rocks along the basin margin. Elsewhere along the margin, tilted fault blocks and intersecting faults occur. Fault area, fault attitude with depth, magnitude of fault motion, and timing of fault motion remain uncertain. However, faults studied in detail are 1-2 km long, have minimum dip-slip motion of 33-100 m, and underwent movement during the late Cenozoic. Potentially significant tectonic and seismic hazard implications arise from the possibility of post-150 ka fault motion.

This map covers the Big Costilla Peak, New Mex.&nash;Colo. quadrangle and adjacent parts of three other 7.5 minute quadrangles: Amalia, New Mex.–Colo., Latir Peak, New Mex., and Comanche Point, New Mex. The study area is in the southwesternmost part of that segment of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains known as the Culebra Range; the Taos Range segment lies to the southwest of Costilla Creek and its tributary, Comanche Creek. The map area extends over all but the northernmost part of the Big Costilla horst, a late Cenozoic uplift of Proterozoic (1.7-Ga and less than 1.4-Ga) rocks that is largely surrounded by down-faulted middle to late Cenozoic (about 40 Ma to about 1 Ma) rocks exposed at significantly lower elevations. This horst is bounded on the northwest side by the San Pedro horst and Culebra graben, on the northeast and east sides by the Devils Park graben, and on the southwest side by the (about 30 Ma to about 25 Ma) Latir volcanic field. The area of this volcanic field, at the north end of the Taos Range, has undergone significantly greater extension than the area to the north of Costilla Creek. The horsts and grabens discussed above are all peripheral structures on the eastern flank of the San Luis basin, which is the axial part of the (about 26 Ma to present) Rio Grande rift at the latitude of the map. The Raton Basin lies to the east of the Culebra segment of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. This foreland basin formed during, and is related to, the original uplift of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains which was driven by tectonic contraction of the Laramide (about 70 Ma to about 40 Ma) orogeny. Renewed uplift and structural modification of these mountains has occurred during formation of the Rio Grande rift. Surficial deposits in the study area include alluvial, mass-movement, and glacial deposits of middle Pleistocene to Holocene age.

The map area includes Fort Garland, Colo., and the surrounding area, which is primarily rural. Fort Garland was established in 1858 to protect settlers in the San Luis Valley, then part of the Territory of New Mexico. East of the town are the Garland mesas (basalt-covered tablelands), which are uplifted as horsts with the Central Sangre de Cristo fault zone. The map also includes the northern part of the Culebra graben, a deep structural basin that extends from south of San Luis (as the Sanchez graben) to near Blanca, about 8 km west of Fort Garland. The oldest rocks exposed in the map area are early Proterozic basement rocks (granites in Ikes Creek block) that occupy an intermediate structural position between the strongly uplifted Blanca Peak block and the Culebra graben. The basement rocks are overlain by Oligocene volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks of unknown origin. The volcanic rocks were buried by a thick sequence of basin-fill deposits of the Santa Fe Group as the Rio Grande rift formed about 25 million years ago. The Servilleta Basalt, a regional series of 3.7?4.8 Ma old flood basalts, was deposited within sediment, and locally provides a basis for dividing the group into upper and lower parts. Landslide deposits and colluvium that rest on sediments of the Santa Fe Group cover the steep margins of the mesas. Exposures of the sediment beneath the basalt and within the low foothills east of the Central Sangre de Cristo fault zone are comprised of siltstones, sandstones, and minor fluvial conglomerates. Most of the low ground surrounding the mesas and in the graben is covered by surficial deposits of Quaternary age. The alluvial deposits are subdivided into three Pleistocene-age units and three Holocene-age units. The oldest Pleistocene gravel (unit Qao) is preserved as isolated remnants that cap high surfaces north and east of Fort Garland. The primary geologic hazards in the map area are from earthquakes, landslides, and localized flooding. The Central

One of the summits of Kit Carson Mountain in the Sangre de Cristo range in south-central Colorado will be named “Challenger Point” in memory of the seven astronauts who died in the U.S. space shuttle disaster in January 1986. Challenger Point is a well-defined summit that appears to be piggybacked onto Kit Carson Mountain, just as the space shuttle Challenger was to its main booster rocket.The newly named summit is about 6 km northeast of Cottonwood, Colo., and 8 km east of Crestone, Colo. The 4292-m-high point is located at 37°59‧N, 105°36‧W.

To address the questions and needs of local resource managers, a multi-agency research project was initiated in 2005 to study the ecology, forage relations, and habitat relations of elk and bison in the Great Sand Dunes–Sangre de Cristo–Baca complex of lands. Meetings and discussions of what this research should include were started in 2001 with representatives from NPS, USFWS, TNC, the Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW), and USDA-FS/BLM. The final study plan was successfully funded in 2004 with research scheduled to start in 2005. The research was designed to encompass three major study elements: (1) animal movements and population dynamics, (2) vegetation and nutrient effects from ungulate herbivory, and (3) development of ecological models, using empirical data collected from the first two components, that will include estimates of elk carrying capacity and management scenarios for resource managers.

The author has identified the following significant results. Ground water recharge to the aquifers of San Luis Valley west of San Luis Creek was primarily from ground water flow in the volcanic aquifers of the San Juan Mountains. The high permeability and anisotropic nature of the volcanic rocks resulted in very little contrast in flow conditions between the San Juan Mountains and San Luis Valley. Ground water recharge to aquifers of eastern San Luis Valley was primarily from stream seepage into the upper reaches of the alluvial fans at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The use of photography and thermal infrared imagery resulted in a savings of time and increase in accuracy in regional hydrogeologic studies. Volcanic rocks exhibited the same spectral reflectance curve as sedimentary rocks, with only the absolute magnitude of reflectance varying. Both saline soils and vegetation were used to estimate general ground water depths.

It is estimated that there are as many as 1400 plant species currently used in traditional Peruvian medicine; however, only a few have undergone scientific investigation. In this paper, we make a review of the botanical, chemical, pharmacological and clinical propierties of the most investigated Peruvian medicinal plants. The plant species selected for this review are: Smallanthus sonchifolius (yacon), Croton lechleri (sangre de grado), Uncaria tomentosa/U. guianensis (uña de gato), Lepidium meyenii (maca), Physalis peruviana (aguaymanto), Minthostachys mollis (muña), Notholaena nivea (cuti-cuti), Maytenus macrocarpa (chuchuhuasi), Dracontium loretense (jergon sacha), Gentianella nitida (hercampuri), Plukenetia volubilis (sacha inchi) and Zea mays (maiz morado). For each of these plants, information about their traditional uses and current commercialization is also included. PMID:27169179

The development of relief in glaciated landscapes plays a crucial role in hypotheses relating climate change and tectonic processes. Enhanced erosion rates and relief production, principally through more widespread glacial erosion, have been proposed to explain the apparent worldwide uplift of mountain ranges in the late Cenozoic. However, glaciers can only be responsible for peak uplift if they are capable of generating substantial relief in formerly nonglaciated landscapes. Prior theoretical work has suggested that relief production in glaciated landscapes should scale with the thickness of the ice. Here we summarise a field- based test of this hypothesis in two mountain ranges in the western United States, the Sierra Nevada, California, and the Sangre de Cristo Range, Colorado. We combined field surveys with aerial photograph interpretation to map LGM trimlines, and used these to reconstruct glaciers and estimate LGM ice thicknesses. A comparison of various point measures of relief (drainage basin, hillslope, and hanging valley) with our ice thickness estimates indicates that relief production in glaciated mountain belts does indeed scale with ice thickness. However, the relief produced is modest. Furthermore, considering volumes of `missing mass', fluvial and glacial landscapes lie along the same trend of geophysical relief versus drainage area. This suggests that both relief production and relief reduction must be taking place, and that glaciers have only produced net relief if they are responsible for drainage basin enlargement. Large moraines attest to significant glacial erosion on the eastern side of the Sangre de Cristo Range, but the relief structure is little different from that of the western side of the range, where glacial erosion has been much more modest. The same holds for the Bitterroot Range, Idaho/Montana. Rapid, active normal faulting on the eastern side of the Teton Range, Wyoming, however, does cause asymmetry in relief structures across the

The map area includes San Luis and the primarily rural surrounding area. San Luis, the county seat of Costilla County, is the oldest surviving settlement in Colorado (1851). West of the town are San Pedro and San Luis mesas (basalt-covered tablelands), which are horsts with the San Luis fault zone to the east and the southern Sangre de Cristo fault zone to the west. The map also includes the Sanchez graben (part of the larger Culebra graben), a deep structural basin that lies between the San Luis fault zone (on the west) and the central Sangre de Cristo fault zone (on the east). The oldest rocks exposed in the map area are the Pliocene to upper Oligocene basin-fill sediments of the Santa Fe Group, and Pliocene Servilleta Basalt, a regional series of 3.7?4.8 Ma old flood basalts. Landslide deposits and colluvium that rest on sediments of the Santa Fe Group cover the steep margins of the mesas. Rare exposures of the sediment are comprised of siltstones, sandstones, and minor fluvial conglomerates. Most of the low ground surrounding the mesas and in the graben is covered by surficial deposits of Quaternary age. The alluvial deposits are subdivided into three Pleistocene-age units and three Holocene-age units. The oldest Pleistocene gravel (unit Qao) forms extensive coalesced alluvial fan and piedmont surfaces, the largest of which is known as the Costilla Plain. This surface extends west from San Pedro Mesa to the Rio Grande. The primary geologic hazards in the map area are from earthquakes, landslides, and localized flooding. There are three major fault zones in the area (as discussed above), and they all show evidence for late Pleistocene to possible Holocene movement. The landslides may have seismogenic origins; that is, they may be stimulated by strong ground shaking during large earthquakes. Machette and Thompson based this geologic map entirely on new mapping, whereas Drenth supplied geophysical data and interpretations.

This Oil Bypass Filter Technology Evaluation quarterly report (January– March 2005) details the ongoing fleet evaluation of oil bypass filter technologies being conducted by the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) for the U.S. Department of Energy’s FreedomCAR & Vehicle Technologies Program. Eleven INL fourcycle diesel-engine buses and six INL Chevrolet Tahoes with gasoline engines are equipped with oil bypass filter systems. Eight of the buses and the six Tahoes are equipped with oil bypass filters from the puraDYN Corporation; the remaining three buses are equipped with oil bypass filters from Refined Global Solutions. Both the puraDYN and Refined Global Solutions bypass filters have a heating chamber to remove liquid contaminates from the oil. During the January to March 2005 reporting quarter, the eleven diesel engine buses traveled 97,943 miles. As of March 31, 2005, the buses had accumulated 744,059 total test miles. During this quarter, four regularly scheduled 12,000-mile bus servicings were performed. The full-flow and bypass oil filters were changed and oil analysis samples were taken for the four buses. Bus 73446 had its oil changed due to a low total base number value. Bus 73450 had a major engine failure at the beginning of the quarter when one of its pushrods and valves were damaged. Buses 73432 and 73433 were removed from the bypass filter evaluation project and placed into the INL Diesel Engine Idling Wear-Rate Evaluation Test. While a total of nine oil changes on the INL buses occurred during the past 29 months, 53 oil changes have been avoided by using the oil bypass filters. The 53 avoided oil changes equates to 1,855 quarts (464 gallons) of new oil not consumed and 1,855 quarts of waste oil not generated. Therefore, over 85% of the oil normally required for oil-changes was not used, and, consequently, the evaluation achieved a greater than 85% reduction in the amount of waste oil normally generated by the buses. The six Tahoe test vehicles

Two groups of autochthonous Pura Raza Galega (PRG) horses, one comprising 483 animals under a silvopasturing regime, and the other comprising 72 PRG horses managed in farms, were used to analyse the effect of silvopasture on infection by endoparasites. Results were considered according to the age and the sex of the horses. Faecal samples were individually collected from each animal and analysed by the coprological flotation, sedimentation and migration techniques. Coprocultures were also done to identify the main strongylid genera affecting the horses. Eggs from the gastrointestinal nematoda Parascaris equorum, strongyles and Oxyuris equi were the only endoparasites observed in the faeces of the horses. Larvae of Trichonema and Cyalocephalus spp. (small strongyles) and Strongylus and Triodontophorus (large strongyles) were identified in the coprocultures. The silvopasturing horses had the highest prevalence of the helminth parasites. The percentage of horses passing ascarid eggs was significantly higher in pasturing horses younger than 3 years. The prevalence of strongyles was statistically greater in the oldest grazing equines. Mares reached the highest prevalence of helminth egg output. Our results showed that native horses kept under silvopasture had the highest prevalence of the ascarids, strongyles and oxyurids, possibly due to their exposure to contaminated grazing areas, lack of appropriate feeding and control of their health status. We conclude that silvopasture increases the presence of infection by gastrointestinal nematoda in wild horses, especially by strongyles. Suitable measures to control parasitic diseases affecting horses in silvopasture should be considered in those systems. PMID:19632049

DNA photolyase, a DNA repair enzyme encoded by the phr gene of Escherichia coli, is normally regulated at 10 to 20 active molecules per cell. In purA mutants deprived of adenine, this amount increased sixfold within 2 h. Operon fusions placing lacZ under transcriptional control of phr promoters indicated no change in transcription rate during adenine deprivation, and gene fusions of phr with lacZ showed a nearly constant level of translation as well. Immunoblot analysis indicated that the total amount of photolyase protein remained constant during enzyme amplification. On the other hand, treatment of cells with chloramphenicol during the adenine deprivation prevented any increase. DNA regions lying 1.3 to 4.2 kb upstream of the phr coding sequences were necessary for this amplification to occur and for this purpose would function in trans. These results suggest that adenine deprivation leads to a posttranslational change, involving synthesis of protein encoded by sequences lying upstream of phr, which increases photolyase activity. The amplification in activity was found to be reversible, for when adenine was restored, the photolyase activity declined before cell growth resumed. Images PMID:2254263

We develop an existence, regularity and potential theory for nonlinear integrodifferential equations involving measure data. The nonlocal elliptic operators considered are possibly degenerate and cover the case of the fractional p-Laplacean operator with measurable coefficients. We introduce a natural function class where we solve the Dirichlet problem, and prove basic and optimal nonlinear Wolff potential estimates for solutions. These are the exact analogs of the results valid in the case of local quasilinear degenerate equations established by Boccardo and Gallouët (J Funct Anal 87:149-169, 1989, Partial Differ Equ 17:641-655, 1992) and Kilpeläinen and Malý (Ann Scuola Norm Sup Pisa Cl Sci (IV) 19:591-613, 1992, Acta Math 172:137-161, 1994). As a consequence, we establish a number of results that can be considered as basic building blocks for a nonlocal, nonlinear potential theory: fine properties of solutions, Calderón-Zygmund estimates, continuity and boundedness criteria are established via Wolff potentials. A main tool is the introduction of a global excess functional that allows us to prove a nonlocal analog of the classical theory due to Campanato (Ann Mat Pura Appl (IV) 69:321-381, 1965). Our results cover the case of linear nonlocal equations with measurable coefficients, and the one of the fractional Laplacean, and are new already in such cases.

Contractile restoration of myocardial scars remains a challenge with important clinical implications. Here, a combination of porous elastomeric membrane, peptide hydrogel, and subcutaneous adipose tissue-derived progenitor cells (subATDPCs) was designed and evaluated as a bioimplant for cardiac regeneration in a mouse model of myocardial infarction. SubATDPCs were doubly transduced with lentiviral vectors to express bioluminescent-fluorescent reporters driven by constitutively active, cardiac tissue-specific promoters. Cells were seeded into an engineered bioimplant consisting of a scaffold (polycaprolactone methacryloyloxyethyl ester) filled with a peptide hydrogel (PuraMatrix™), and transplanted to cover injured myocardium. Bioluminescence and fluorescence quantifications showed de novo and progressive increases in promoter expression in bioactive implant-treated animals. The bioactive implant was well adapted to the heart, and fully functional vessels traversed the myocardium-bioactive implant interface. Treatment translated into a detectable positive effect on cardiac function, as revealed by echocardiography. Thus, this novel implant is a promising construct for supporting myocardial regeneration. PMID:24936221

This report details the ongoing fleet evaluation of an oil bypass filter technology by the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) for the U.S. Department of Energy's FreedomCAR & Vehicle Technologies Program. Eight full-size, four-cycle diesel-engine buses used to transport INEEL employees on various routes have been equipped with oil bypass filter systems from the PuraDYN Corporation. Because of the reported filtering (down to 0.1 microns) capability of bypass filter systems, the technology is intended to extend oil-drain intervals. To validate the extended usability of the oil, an oil analysis regime is used to monitor the presence of necessary additives in the oil, to detect undesirable contaminants and engine wear metals, and to evaluate the fitness of the oil for continued service. The eight buses have accumulated 101,000 miles to date and some preliminary results are reported. The INEEL light-duty vehicle fleet is also being evaluated to identify candidate vehicles for inclusion in the test fleet.

This Oil Bypass Filter Technology Evaluation quarterly report (January-March 2004) details the ongoing fleet evaluation of an oil bypass filter technology by the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) for the U.S. Department of Energy's FreedomCAR & Vehicle Technologies Program. Eight four-cycle diesel-engine buses used to transport INEEL employees on various routes have been equipped with oil bypass filter systems from the puraDYN Corporation. The bypass filters are reported to have engine oil filtering capability of <1 micron and a built-in additive package to facilitate extended oil-drain intervals. This quarter, the heavy-duty buses traveled 88,747 miles, and as of the end of March 2004, the eight buses have accumulated 412,838 total test miles without requiring an oil change. This represents an avoidance of 34 oil changes, which equates to 1,199 quarts (300 gallons) of new oil not consumed and, furthermore, 1,199 quarts of waste oil not generated.

Integrative mapping with vectors containing ribosomal DNA sequences were used to complete the mapping of the 10 rRNA gene sets in the endospore forming bacterium Bacillus subtilis. Southern hybridizations allowed the assignment of nine operons to distinct BclI restriction fragments and their genetic locus identified by transductional crosses. Nine of the ten rRNA gene sets are located between 0 and 70° on the genomic map. In the region surrounding cysA14, two sets of closely spaced tandem clusters are present. The first (rrnJ and rrnW) is located between purA16 and cysA14 closely linked to the latter; the second (rrnI, rrnH and rrnG) previously mapped within this area is located between attSPO2 and glpT6. The operons at or near the origin of replication (rrnO,rrnA and rrnJ,rrnW) represent ``hot spots'' of plasmid insertion. PMID:2465199

The progress of Mathematics during the nineteenth century was characterised both by an enormous acquisition of new knowledge and by the attempts to introduce rigour in reasoning patterns and mathematical writing. Cauchy's presentation of Mathematical Analysis was not immediately accepted, and many writers, though aware of that new style, did not use it in their own mathematical production. This paper is devoted to an episode of this sort that took place in Spain during the first half of the century: It deals with the presentation of a method for numerically solving algebraic equations by José Mariano Vallejo, a late Spanish follower of the Enlightenment ideas, politician, writer, and mathematician who published it in the fourth (1840) edition of his book Compendio de Mathemáticas Puras y Mistas, claiming to have discovered it on his own. Vallejo's main achievement was to write down the whole procedure in a very careful way taking into account the different types of roots, although he paid little attention to questions such as convergence checks and the fulfilment of the hypotheses of Rolle's Theorem. For sure this lack of mathematical care prevented Vallejo to occupy a place among the forerunners of Computational Algebra.

This Third Quarterly report details the ongoing fleet evaluation of an oil bypass filter technology by the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) for the U.S. Department of Energy’s FreedomCAR & Vehicle Technologies Program. Eight full-size, four-cycle diesel-engine buses used to transport INEEL employees on various routes have been equipped with oil bypass filter systems from the PuraDYN Corporation. The reported engine lubricating oil-filtering capability (down to 0.1 microns) and additive package of the bypass filter system is intended to extend oil-drain intervals. To validate the extended oil-drain intervals, an oil-analysis regime monitors the presence of necessary additives in the oil, detects undesirable contaminants and engine wear metals, and evaluates the fitness of the oil for continued service. The eight buses have accumulated 185,000 miles to date without any oil changes. The preliminary economic analysis suggests that the per bus payback point for the oil bypass filter technology should be between 108,000 miles when 74 gallons of oil use is avoided and 168,000 miles when 118 gallons of oil use is avoided. As discussed in the report, the variation in the payback point is dependant on the assumed cost of oil. In anticipation of also evaluating oil bypass systems on six Chevrolet Tahoe sport utility vehicles, the oil is being sampled on the six Tahoes to develop an oil characterization history for each engine.

This fourth Oil Bypass Filter Technology Evaluation report details the ongoing fleet evaluation of an oil bypass filter technology by the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) for the U.S. Department of Energy’s FreedomCAR & Vehicle Technologies Program. Eight four-cycle diesel-engine buses used to transport INEEL employees on various routes have been equipped with oil bypass filter systems from the puraDYN Corporation. The bypass filters are reported to have engine oil filtering capability of <1 micron and a built-in additive package to facilitate extended oil-drain intervals. To date, the eight buses have accumulated 259,398 test miles. This represents an avoidance of 21 oil changes, which equates to 740 quarts (185 gallons) of oil not used or disposed of. To validate the extended oil-drain intervals, an oil-analysis regime evaluates the fitness of the oil for continued service by monitoring the presence of necessary additives, undesirable contaminants, and engine-wear metals. For bus 73450, higher values of iron have been reported, but the wear rate ratio (parts per million of iron per thousand miles driven) has remained consistent. In anticipation of also evaluating oil bypass systems on six Chevrolet Tahoe sport utility vehicles, the oil is being sampled on each of the Tahoes to develop a characterization history or baseline for each engine.

This Oil Bypass Filter Technology Evaluation quarterly report (October-December 2003) details the ongoing fleet evaluation of an oil bypass filter technology by the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) for the U.S. Department of Energy's FreedomCAR & Vehicle Technologies Program. Eight four-cycle diesel-engine buses used to transport INEEL employees on various routes have been equipped with oil bypass filter systems from the puraDYN Corporation. The bypass filters are reported to have engine oil filtering capability of <1 micron and a built-in additive package to facilitate extended oil-drain intervals. To date, the eight buses have accumulated 324,091 test miles. This represents an avoidance of 27 oil changes, which equate to 952 quarts (238 gallons) of new oil not conserved and therefore, 952 quarts of waste oil not generated. To validate the extended oil-drain intervals, an oil-analysis regime is used to evaluate the fitness of the oil for continued service by monitoring the presence of necessary additives, undesirable contaminants, and engine-wear metals. The test fleet has been expanded to include six Chevrolet Tahoe sport utility vehicles with gasoline engines.

Gram-stain-negative, pectinolytic bacteria were repeatedly isolated from pear trees displaying symptoms of bleeding canker in China. Three strains, JS5T, LN1 and QZH3, had identical 16S rRNA gene sequences that shared 99 % similarity to the type strain of Dickeya dadantii. Phylogenetic analysis of strains JS5T, LN1 and QZH3 with isolates representing all species of the genus Dickeya and related Pectobacterium species supported their affiliation to Dickeya. Multi-locus sequence typing employing concatenated sequences encoding recA, fusA, gapA, purA, rplB, dnaX and the intergenic spacer illustrated a phylogeny which placed strains JS5T, LN1 and QZH3 as a distinct clade, separate from all other species of the genus Dickeya. Average nucleotide identity values obtained in comparison with all species of the genus Dickeya supported the distinctiveness of strain JS5T within the genus Dickeya. Additionally, all three strains were phenotypically distinguished from other species of the genus Dickeya by failing to hydrolyse casein, and by producing acids from (-)-d-arabinose, (+)melibiose, (+)raffinose, mannitol and myo-inositol, but not from 5-keto-d-gluconate or β-gentiobiose. The name Dickeya fangzhongdai sp. nov. is proposed to accommodate these strains; the type strain is JS5T (=CGMCC 1.15464T=DSM 101947T). PMID:27045848

Targeted delivery of self-antigens to the immune system in a mode that stimulates a tolerance-inducing pathway has proven difficult. To address this hurdle, we developed a vaccine based-approach comprised of two synthetic controlled-release biomaterials, poly(lactide-co-glycolide; PLGA) microparticles (MPs) encapsulating denatured insulin (key self-antigen in type 1 diabetes; T1D), and PuraMatrixTM peptide hydrogel containing granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and CpG ODN1826 (CpG), which were included as vaccine adjuvants to recruit and activate immune cells. Although CpG is normally considered pro-inflammatory, it also has anti-inflammatory effects, including enhancing IL-10 production. Three subcutaneous administrations of this hydrogel (GM-CSF/CpG)/insulin-MP vaccine protected 40% of NOD mice from T1D. In contrast, all control mice became diabetic. In vitro studies indicate CpG stimulation increased IL-10 production, as a potential mechanism. Multiple subcutaneous injections of the insulin containing formulation resulted in formation of granulomas, which resolved by 28 weeks. Histological analysis of these granulomas indicated infiltration of a diverse cadre of immune cells, with characteristics reminiscent of a tertiary lymphoid organ, suggesting the creation of a microenvironment to recruit and educate immune cells. These results demonstrate the feasibility of this injectable hydrogel/MP based vaccine system to prevent T1D. PMID:26279095

The Taos Plateau volcanic field (TPVF) in the southern San Luis Valley of northern New Mexico is the most voluminous of the predominantly basaltic Neogene (6-1 Ma) volcanic fields of the Rio Grande rift. Volcanic deposits of the TPVF are intercalated with alluvial deposits of the Santa Fe Group and compose the N-S-trending San Luis Basin, the largest basin of the northern rift (13,500 km2 in area). Pliocene volcanic rocks of the Guadalupe Mountain area of northern New Mexico are underlain by the southern end of one of the larger sub-basins of the San Luis Valley, the Sunshine sub-basin (~ 450 km2 in area) juxtaposed against the down-to-west frontal fault of the Precambrian-cored Sangre de Cristo Range. The sub-basin plunges northward and extends to near the Colorado-New Mexico border. The western margin (~15 km west of the Sangre de Cristo fault) is constrained by outcrops of Oligocene to Miocene volcanic rocks of the Latir volcanic field, interpreted here as a broad pre-Pliocene intra-rift platform underlying much of the northern TPVF. The southern sub-basin border is derived, in part, from modeling of gravity and aeromagnetic data and is interpreted as a subsurface extension of this intra-rift platform that extends southeastward to nearly the Sangre de Cristo range front. Broadly coincident with this subsurface basement high is the northwest-trending, curvilinear terminus of the down-to-northeast Red River fault zone. South of the gravity high, basin-fill alluvium and ~3.84 Ma Servilleta basalt lava flows thicken along a poorly exposed, down-to-south, basin-bounding fault of the northern Taos graben, the largest of the San Luis Valley sub-basins. The uppermost, western sub-basin fill is exposed along steep canyon walls near the confluence of the Rio Grande and the Red River. Unconformity-bound, lava flow packages are intercalated with paleo Red River fan alluvium and define six eruptive sequences in the Guadalupe Mountain area: (1) Guadalupe Mtn. lavas (dacite ~5

This geologic map is based entirely on new mapping by Thompson and Machette, whereas the geophysical data and interpretations were supplied by Drenth. The map area includes most of San Pedro Mesa, a basalt covered mesa that is uplifted as a horst between the Southern Sangre de Cristo fault zone (on the west) and the San Luis fault zone on the east. The map also includes most of the Sanchez graben, a deep structural basin that lies between the San Luis fault zone (on the west) and the Central Sangre de Cristo fault zone on the east. The oldest rocks in the map area are Proterozoic granites and Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, which are only exposed in a small hill on the west-central part of the mesa. The low hills that rise above San Pedro mesa are comprised of middle(?) Miocene volcanic rocks that are undated, but possibly correlative with mapped rocks to the east of Sanchez Reservoir. The bulk of the map area is comprised of the Servilleta Basalt, a regional series of flood basalts of Pliocene age. The west, north, and northeast margins of the mesa are covered by extensive landslide deposits that rest on poorly exposed sediment of the Santa Fe Group. Rare exposures of the sediment are comprised of siltstones, sandstones, and minor fluvial conglomerates. Most of the low ground surrounding the mesa is covered by surficial deposits of Quaternary age. The piedmont alluvium is subdivided into three Pleistocene units, and three Holocene units. The oldest Pleistocene gravel (unit Qao) forms an extensive coalesced alluvial fan and piedmont surface that is known as the Costilla Plains. This surface extends west from San Pedro Mesa to the Rio Grande. The primary geologic hazards in the map are are from earthquakes and landslides. There are three major fault zones in the area (as discussed above), and they all show evidence for late Pleistocene to possible Holocene movement. Two generations of landslides are mapped (younger and older), and both may have seismogenic origins.

This thesis examines the response of alpine landscapes to the onset of glaciation. The basic approach is to compare fluvial and glacial laudscapes, since it is the change from the former to the latter that accompanies climatic cooling. This allows a detailed evaluation of hypotheses relating climate change to tectonic processes in glaciated mountain belts. Fieldwork was carried out in the eastern Sierra Nevada, California, and the Sangre de Cristo Range, Colorado, alongside digital elevation model analyses in the western US, the Southern Alps of New Zealand, and the Himalaya of northwestern Pakistan. hypothesis is overstated in its appeal to glacial erosion as a major source of relief production and subsequent peak uplift. Glaciers in the eastern Sierra Nevada and the western Sangre de Cristos have redistributed relief, but have produced only modest relief by enlarging drainage basins at the expense of low-relief topography. Glaciers have lowered valley floors and ridgelines by similar amounts, limiting the amount of "missing mass' that can be generated, and causing a decrease in drainage basin relief. The principal response of glaciated landscapes to rapid rock uplift is the development of towering cirque headwalls. This represents considerable relief production, but is not caused by glacial erosion alone. Large valley glaciers can maintain their low gradient regardless of uplift rate, which supports the "glacial buzzsaw" hypothesis. However, the inability of glaciers to erode steep hillslopes as rapidly can cause mean elevations to rise. Cosmogenic isotope dating is used to show that (i) where plucking is active, the last major glaciation removed sufficient material to reset the cosmogenic clock; and (ii) former glacial valley floors now stranded near the crest of the Sierra Nevada are at varying stages of abandonment, suggesting a cycle of drainage reorganiszation and relief inversion due to glacial erosion similar to that observed in river networks. Glaciated

In river hydraulics, assimilation of water level measurements at gauging stations is well controlled, while assimilation of images is still delicate. In the present talk, we address the richness of satellite mapped information to constrain a 2D shallow-water model, but also related difficulties. 2D shallow models may be necessary for small scale modelling in particular for low-water and flood plain flows. Since in both cases, the dynamics of the wet-dry front is essential, one has to elaborate robust and accurate solvers. In this contribution we introduce robust second order, stable finite volume scheme [CoMaMoViDaLa]. Comparisons of real like tests cases with more classical solvers highlight the importance of an accurate flood plain modelling. A preliminary inverse study is presented in a flood plain flow case, [LaMo] [HoLaMoPu]. As a first step, a 0th order data processing model improves observation operator and produces more reliable water level derived from rough measurements [PuRa]. Then, both model and flow behaviours can be better understood thanks to variational sensitivities based on a gradient computation and adjoint equations. It can reveal several difficulties that a model designer has to tackle. Next, a 4D-Var data assimilation algorithm used with spatialized data leads to improved model calibration and potentially leads to identify river discharges. All the algorithms are implemented into DassFlow software (Fortran, MPI, adjoint) [Da]. All these results and experiments (accurate wet-dry front dynamics, sensitivities analysis, identification of discharges and calibration of model) are currently performed in view to use data from the future SWOT mission. [CoMaMoViDaLa] F. Couderc, R. Madec, J. Monnier, J.-P. Vila, D. Dartus, K. Larnier. "Sensitivity analysis and variational data assimilation for geophysical shallow water flows". Submitted. [Da] DassFlow - Data Assimilation for Free Surface Flows. Computational software http

The group A streptococcus (GAS) is a strict human pathogen responsible for a wide spectrum of diseases. Although GAS genome sequences are available, functional genomic analyses have been limited. We developed a mariner-based transposon, osKaR, designed to perform Transposon-Site Hybridization (TraSH) in GAS and successfully tested its use in several invasive serotypes. A complex osKaR mutant library in M1T1 GAS strain 5448 was subjected to negative selection in human blood to identify genes important for GAS fitness in this clinically relevant environment. Mutants underrepresented after growth in blood (output pool) compared to growth in rich media (input pool) were identified using DNA microarray hybridization of transposon-specific tags en masse. Using blood from three different donors, we identified 81 genes that met our criteria for reduced fitness in blood from at least two individuals. Genes known to play a role in survival of GAS in blood were found, including those encoding the virulence regulator Mga (mga), the peroxide response regulator PerR (perR), and the RofA-like regulator Ralp-3 (ralp3). We also identified genes previously reported for their contribution to sepsis in other pathogens, such as de novo nucleotide synthesis (purD, purA, pyrB, carA, carB, guaB), sugar metabolism (scrB, fruA), zinc uptake (adcC), and transcriptional regulation (cpsY). To validate our findings, independent mutants with mutations in 10 different genes identified in our screen were confirmed to be defective for survival in blood bactericidal assays. Overall, this work represents the first use of TraSH in GAS to identify potential virulence genes. PMID:23297387

The group A streptococcus (GAS) is a strict human pathogen responsible for a wide spectrum of diseases. Although GAS genome sequences are available, functional genomic analyses have been limited. We developed a mariner-based transposon, osKaR, designed to perform Transposon-Site Hybridization (TraSH) in GAS and successfully tested its use in several invasive serotypes. A complex osKaR mutant library in M1T1 GAS strain 5448 was subjected to negative selection in human blood to identify genes important for GAS fitness in this clinically relevant environment. Mutants underrepresented after growth in blood (output pool) compared to growth in rich media (input pool) were identified using DNA microarray hybridization of transposon-specific tags en masse. Using blood from three different donors, we identified 81 genes that met our criteria for reduced fitness in blood from at least two individuals. Genes known to play a role in survival of GAS in blood were found, including those encoding the virulence regulator Mga (mga), the peroxide response regulator PerR (perR), and the RofA-like regulator Ralp-3 (ralp3). We also identified genes previously reported for their contribution to sepsis in other pathogens, such as de novo nucleotide synthesis (purD, purA, pyrB, carA, carB, guaB), sugar metabolism (scrB, fruA), zinc uptake (adcC), and transcriptional regulation (cpsY). To validate our findings, independent mutants with mutations in 10 different genes identified in our screen were confirmed to be defective for survival in blood bactericidal assays. Overall, this work represents the first use of TraSH in GAS to identify potential virulence genes. PMID:23297387

This Oil Bypass Filter Technology Evaluation quarterly report (July--September 2004) details the ongoing fleet evaluation of an oil bypass filter technology being conducted by the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) FreedomCAR & Vehicle Technologies Program. Eight INEEL four-cycle diesel engine buses used to transport INEEL employees on various routes and six INEEL Chevrolet Tahoes with gasoline engines are equipped with oil bypass filter systems from the puraDYN Corporation. The bypass filters are reported to have engine oil filtering capability of <1 micron and a built-in additive package to facilitate extended oil-drain intervals. This quarter, the eight diesel engine buses traveled 82,123 miles. As of the end of September 2004, they had accumulated 580,848 miles since the beginning of the test and 516,401 miles without an oil change. This represents an avoidance of 43 oil changes, which equates to 1,505 quarts (376 gallons) of new oil not consumed and, furthermore, 1,505 quarts of waste oil not generated. Two buses had their oil changed this quarter due to the degraded quality of the engine oil, as determined by the low total base numbers. This quarter, the six Tahoe test vehicles traveled 40,762 miles. As of the end of September 2004, the six Tahoes have accumulated 150,205 total test miles. The Tahoe filter test is in flux because of the engine cleaning or flushing that is occurring. The recycled oil used initially in the Tahoe testing was replaced with a 10W-30 Castrol oil, however only three vehicles have been flushed (one servicing event with the new oil) and restarted on testing.

Rock veneers stabilize hillslope surfaces, occur especially in areas of immature soil, and form through a variety of process sets that includes root throw. Near Westcliffe, Colorado, USA, data were collected from a 20 ?? 500 m transect on the east slope of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Ages of pit/mound complexes with rock fragments exposed at the surface by root throw ranged from recent (freshly toppled tree) to unknown (complete tree decay). Calculations based on dimensions of the pit/mound complexes, estimated time of free topppling, sizes of exposed rock fragments, and percentage rock covers at pit/mound complexes, as well as within the transect area, indicate that recent rates of root throw have resulted in only partial rock veneering since late Pleistocene deglaciation. Weathering of rock fragments prevent development of an extensive rock veneer and causes a balance, achieved within an estimated 700 years, between the rates of rock-fragment exposure by root throw and clast disintegration by chemical reduction. The estimated rate of rock-fragment reduction accounts for part of the fluvial sediment yields observed for forested subalpine areas of western North America. Copyright ?? 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Movement of rock debris under the influence of gravity, i.e., mass movement, generates a range of phenomena from soil creep, through solifluction,debris flows and rock glaciers to rock falls. Whereas the resultant forms of these phenomena are different, common elements in the mechanics of movement are utilized in the basic interpretation of the processes of formation. Measurements of morphologic variables provide data for deductive analyses of processes that operate too slowly to observe or for processes that generated relict phenomena. External and internal characteristics or rock glacier morphometry and measured rates of motion serve as the basis for the development of a rheological model to explain phenomena classified as rock glaciers. A rock glacier in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Southern Colorado, which exhibits a large number of ridges and furrows and lichen bare fronts of lobes, suggests present day movement. A strain-net established on the surface provides evidence of movement characteristics. These data plus morphologic and fabric data suggest two rheological models to explain the flow of this rock glacier. Model one is based upon perfect plastic flow and model two is based upon stratified fluid movement with viscosity changing with depth. These models permit a better understanding of the movement mechanics and demonstrate that catastrophic events and slow creep contribute to the morphologic characteristics of this rock glacier.

While the slopes of the present-day Colorado Rocky Mountains are characterized by large stands of subalpine and montane conifers, the Rockies of the late glacial looked dramatically different. Specifically, pollen records suggest that during the late glacial, Artemisia and Gramineae predominated throughout the mountains of Colorado. At some point between 11,000 and 10,000 B.P., however, both Artemisia and grasses underwent a dramatic decline, which can be identified in virtually every pollen diagram produced for Colorado mountain sites, including Como Lake (Sangre de Cristo Mountains), Copley Lake and Splains; Gulch (near Crested Butte), Molas Lake (San Juan Mountains), and Redrock Lake (Boulder County). Moreover, the same pattern seems to hold for pollen spectra derived for areas adjacent to Colorado, including at sites in the Chuska Mountains of New Mexico and in eastern Wyoming. The implications of this consistent finding are compelling. The closest modem analogues to the Artemisia- and Gramineae-dominated late-glacial Colorado Rockies are found in the relatively arid northern Great Basin, which suggests that annual precipitation was much lower in the late-glacial southern Rocky Mountains than it was throughout the Holocene.

Three known alkaloids, isoboldine (2), norisoboldine (1), and magnoflorine (8), have been isolated for the first time from Croton lechleri, a source of the wound healing latex "sangre de grado". An HPLC system was developed, and a large number of latex and leaf samples of C. lechleri from 22 sites in northern Peru and Ecuador were analyzed to gain an understanding of the natural variation in alkaloid content for the species. Up to six alkaloids were found to occur in the leaves including, in addition to those listed above, thaliporphine (3), glaucine (4), and taspine (9), whereas the latex contained only 9. Taspine (9) is the component that has been previously found to be responsible for the wound healing activity of C. lechleri latex, and its mean concentration throughout the range examined was found to be 9% of the latex by dry weight. In addition, three chemotypes are defined based on the alkaloid content of the leaves, and the geographic distribution of these chemotypes is discussed along with a quantitative analysis of the alkaloid content as a function of chemotype. PMID:12088421

The Alamosa 30'× 60' quadrangle is located in the central San Luis Basin of southern Colorado and is bisected by the Rio Grande. The Rio Grande has headwaters in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado and ultimately discharges into the Gulf of Mexico 3,000 kilometers (km) downstream. Alluvial floodplains and associated deposits of the Rio Grande and east-draining tributaries, La Jara Creek and Conejos River, occupy the north-central and northwestern part of the map area. Alluvial deposits of west-draining Rio Grande tributaries, Culebra and Costilla Creeks, bound the Costilla Plain in the south-central part of the map area. The San Luis Hills, a northeast-trending series of flat-topped mesas and hills, dominate the landscape in the central and southwestern part of the map and preserve fault-bound Neogene basin surfaces and deposits. The Precambrian-cored Sangre de Cristo Mountains rise to an elevation of nearly 4,300 meters (m), almost 2,000 m above the valley floor, in the eastern part of the map area. In total, the map area contains deposits that record surficial, tectonic, sedimentary, volcanic, magmatic, and metamorphic processes over the past 1.7 billion years.

Fifty-three types of surficial geologic deposits and residual materials of Quaternary age are described in a pamphlet and located on a map of the greater Pueblo area, in part of the Front Range, in the Wet and Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and on the plains east of Colorado Springs and Pueblo. Deposits formed by landslides, wind, and glaciers, as well as colluvium, residuum, alluvium, and others are described in terms of predominant grain size, mineral or rock composition (e.g., gypsiferous, calcareous, granitic, andesitic), thickness, and other physical characteristics. Origins and ages of the deposits and geologic hazards related to them are noted. Many lines drawn between units on our map were placed by generalizing contacts on published maps. However, in 1997-1999 we mapped new boundaries as well. The map was projected to the UTM projection. This large map area extends from near Salida (on the west edge), eastward about 107 mi (172 km), and from Antero Reservoir and Woodland Park on the north edge to near Colorado City at the south edge (68 mi; 109 km).

Natural fractures in Jurassic through Tertiary rock units of the Raton Basin locally contain conjugate shear fractures that are mechanically compatible with associated extension fractures, i.e., they have a bisector to the acute angle that is parallel to the strike of associated extension fractures, normal to the thrust front at the western margin of the basin. Both sets of fractures are therefore interpreted to have formed during Laramide-age thrusting from west to east that formed the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and subsequently the foreland Raton Basin, and that imposed strong east-west compressive stresses onto the strata filling the basin. This pattern is not universal, however. Anomalous NNE-SSW striking fractures locally dominate strata close to the thrust front, and fracture patterns are irregular in strata associated with anticlinal structures within the basin. Of special interest are strike-slip style conjugate shear fractures within Dakota Sandstone outcrops 60 miles to the east of the thrust front. Mohr-Coulomb failure diagrams are utilized to describe how these formed as well as how two distinctly different types of fractures can be formed in the same basin under the same regional tectonic setting and at the same time. The primary controls in this interpretation are simply the mechanical properties of the specific rock units and the depth of burial rather than significant changes in the applied stress.

The author has identified the following significant results. The Hayden Pass (Orient mine area) includes 60 sq miles of the northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains and San Luis Valley in south-central Colorado. Based on interpretation of the remote sensor data, a geologic map was prepared and compared with a second geologic map, prepared from interpretation of both remote sensor data and field data. Comparison of the two maps gives an indication of the usefulness and reliability of the remote sensor data. The relative utility of color and color infrared photography was tested. The photography was used successfully to locate 75% of all faults in a portion of the geologically complex Bonanza volcanic center and to map and correctly identify 93% of all quaternary deposits and 62% of all areas of tertiary volcanic outcrop. Using a filter wheel photometer, more than 8,600 measurements of band reflectance of several sedimentary rocks were performed. The following conclusions were drawn: (1) the typical spectral reflectance curve shows a gradual increase with increasing wavelength; (2) the average band reflectance is about 0.20; and (3) within a formation, the minimum natural variation is about 0.04, or about 20% of the mean band reflectance.

The undeformed High Plains of North America are located over 1,000 km east of the nearest plate boundary but reach elevations of >2 km at their boundary with the southern Rocky Mountains. East of the mountain front elevations decrease gradually, but remain as high as 1 km in northern Texas. Despite the accumulation of extensive geological and geophysical datasets, there is no consensus on the mechanisms that caused high elevations in the region or on how these mechanisms may be linked to the history of deformation and volcanism in the neighboring Rocky Mountains. The timing of unroofing and uplift is key to differentiating between these mechanisms, but this too remains debated. A 350 km-long integrated apatite fission-track (AFT) and (U-Th)/He (AHe) east-west transect from the southern Rocky Mountains of New Mexico across the High Plains into northern Texas provides insight into the spatial and temporal variability of unroofing across this region during Cenozoic time. The southern Sangre de Cristo Range separates the High Plains of northern New Mexico from the Rio Grande Rift. At the western edge of the southern Sangre de Cristo Range, AFT and AHe data from Precambrian basement samples show an age-elevation relationship and indicate cooling and rapid unroofing through the shallow crust during the early Tertiary Laramide orogeny. At the eastern edge of the range, both AFT and AHe data record a late Tertiary cooling episode as young as mid-Miocene. Samples from Triassic sandstones on the High Plains 50 km east of the mountain front yield mid-Tertiary AFT and late Tertiary AHe dates. These data require post-depositional heating of samples to above ~110 °C, followed by at least 1.5 km of relatively rapid unroofing on the western High Plains between 17 Ma and the initiation of Ogallala Group deposition at ~12 Ma. This interval of unroofing predates the <10 Ma volcanism along the nearby Jemez lineament. The easternmost samples in the Texas Panhandle suggest that a

the LADHS and RAMS cumulative precipitation reveal a disassociation over time, with R equal to 0.74 at day eight and R equal to 0.52 at day 31. Linear correlation coefficients (Pearson) returned a stronger initial correlation of 0.97, decreasing to 0.68. The standard deviations for the 2500 LADHS cells underlying each 5km RAMS cell range from 8 mm to 695 mm in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and 2 mm to 112 mm in the San Luis Valley. Comparatively, the standard deviations of the RAMS estimates in these regions are 247 mm and 30 mm respectively. The LADHS standard deviations provide a measure of the variability introduced through the downscaling routine, which exceeds RAMS regional variability by a factor of 2 to 4. The coefficient of variation for the average LADHS grid cell values and the RAMS cell values in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains are 0.66 and 0.27, respectively, and 0.79 and 0.75 in the San Luis Valley. The coefficients of variation evidence the uniformity of the higher precipitation estimates in the mountains, especially for RAMS, and also the lower means and variability found in the valley. Additionally, Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests indicate clear spatial and temporal differences in mean simulated precipitation across the grid.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a frequent cause of acute and chronic hepatitis and a leading cause for cirrhosis of the liver and hepatocellular carcinoma. HCV is classified in six major genotypes and more than 70 subtypes. In Colombian blood banks, serum samples were tested for anti-HCV antibodies using a third-generation ELISA. The aim of this study was to characterize the viral sequences in plasma of 184 volunteer blood donors who attended the "Banco Nacional de Sangre de la Cruz Roja Colombiana," Bogotá, Colombia. Three different HCV genomic regions were amplified by nested PCR. The first of these was a segment of 180 bp of the 5'UTR region to confirm the previous diagnosis by ELISA. From those that were positive to the 5'UTR region, two further segments were amplified for genotyping and subtyping by phylogenetic analysis: a segment of 380 bp from the NS5B region; and a segment of 391 bp from the E1 region. The distribution of HCV subtypes was: 1b (82.8%), 1a (5.7%), 2a (5.7%), 2b (2.8%), and 3a (2.8%). By applying Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation, it was estimated that HCV-1b was introduced into Bogotá around 1950. Also, this subtype spread at an exponential rate between about 1970 to about 1990, after which transmission of HCV was reduced by anti-HCV testing of this population. Among Colombian blood donors, HCV genotype 1b is the most frequent genotype, especially in large urban conglomerates such as Bogotá, as is the case in other South American countries. PMID:20872715

Despite utilizing different actions to render blood safe for transfusions, we continue to have the risk of transmitting some viral infections. For this reason, it is important to determine prevalence of infections due to HIV and hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses in blood donors. Previous studies from Mexico indicate that HIV prevalence is 0.01 to 0.13%, while it is 0.11 to 1.22% for hepatitis B, and for hepatitis C, prevalence is 0.47 to 1.47%. We are checking the results of the screening tests (ELISA 3rd generation and chemiluminescent immunoassays) from blood donors studied at the Central Blood Bank (Banco Central de Sangre) at the Mexican Institute of Social Security's (IMSS) Twentieth First Century National Medical Center in Mexico City from 1995 to 2002. Reactive results were studied by confirmatory tests, Western Blot for HIV, AgHBs neutralization test for hepatitis B, and RIBA-HCV3.0 for hepatitis C. Reactive results from 513,062 blood donors confirmed for HV were 0.07%, reactive results and confirmation of hepatitis B from 511,733 blood donors were 0.13%, and reactive results and confirmation of hepatitis C from 511,115 blood donors were 0.31%. Rates obtained are low when compared with results of previous studies in Mexico for HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C. It may be possible than these low rates indicate the positive impact obtained from preventive actions, better strategies of detection of blood donors with high risk, and the advantage of working with a fully automated test system with state-of-the-art technology. PMID:15633577

Hillslope viticulture is one of the agricultural activities affecting the eco-geomorphological system. Specifically, in the vineyards of the Axarquía on the Montes de Málaga (Spain), where the popular Moscatel and Pedro Ximénez grapes are produced, several problems of degradation of the chemical and physical properties of the soils have been reported by several authors, but not real quantifications of sediment losses. Soils have developed mainly on Palaeozoic schists and slates with different degrees of metamorphism, but also include marbles, limestone, quartz and gneiss. On steep slopes (36-76%), surface rock fragment cover (45 to 75%) and occasional generation of rills and gullies characterize the principal geomorphological processes. Degradation processes are due to two causes: i) the concentrated heavy rainfall events during a few hours within no more than 30 days per year; ii) soil tillage of the vine-workers, removing vegetation cover under and around the vines. Anyhow, farmers take measures against soil erosion, such as building rills to canalize the surface flow (called 'sangrías') and small walls of stones ('albarradas') to reduce soil loss. Actual soil degradation as a consequence of intensive agricultural activities starting with Muslim ages (s. VIII-XV). The objective of this work is to show the geomorphological processes during summer, autumn and winter (2014-2015) on experimental plots along a hillslope in the south of Spain (Almáchar, Málaga). Six sediment traps (50 liters) with their respective collectors (60 liters) were installed in three different points along a hillslope exposed to south-west. After each rainfall, all sediments were collected and analyzed to calculate soil losses (g), surface flow (l) and the sediment concentration (g l-1). Furthermore, a meteorological station (rainfall, temperature, wind and air humidity) was installed close to the plot. Final results show elevated soil loss and surface flow rates with different

The Salida Geothermal Prospect (Poncha Hot Springs) was evaluated for industrial and commercial direct heat applications at Salida, Colorado, which is located approximately five miles east of Poncha Hot Springs. Chaffee Geothermal, Ltd., holds the geothermal leases on the prospect and the right-of-way for the main pipeline to Salida. The Poncha Hot Springs are located at the intersection of two major structural trends, immediately between the Upper Arkansas graben and the Sangre de Cristo uplift. Prominent east-west faulting occurs at the actual location of the hot springs. Preliminary exploration indicates that 1600 gpm of geothermal fluid as hot as 250/sup 0/F is likely to be found at around 1500 feet in depth. The prospective existing endusers were estimated to require 5.02 x 10/sup 10/ Btu per year, but the total annual amount of geothermal energy available for existing and future endusers is 28.14 x 10/sup 10/ Btu. The engineering design for the study assumed that the 1600 gpm would be fully utilized. Some users would be cascaded and the spent fluid would be cooled and discharged to nearby rivers. The economic analysis assumes that two separate businesses, the energy producer and the energy distributor, are participants in the geothermal project. The producer would be an existing limited partnership, with Chaffee Geothermal, Ltd. as one of the partners; the distributor would be a new Colorado corporation without additional income sources. Economic evaluations were performed in full for four cases: the Base Case and three alternate scenarios. Alternate 1 assumes a three-year delay in realizing full production relative to the Base Case; Alternate 2 assumes that the geothermal reservoir is of a higher quality than is assumed for the Base Case; and Alternate 3 assumes a lower quality reservoir. 11 refs., 34 figs., 40 tabs.

The equatorward flowing Canary Current (CC) is the main feature of the circulation in the Canary Islands region. The CC flow perturbation by the Canary Islands originate the Canary Eddy Corridor which is the major pathway for long lived eddies in the subtropical North Atlantic (Sangrà et al., 2009, DSR). Therefore the variability of the CC passing through the Canary Archipelago will have both local and regional importance. Past studies on the CC variability trough the Canary Islands point out a clearly seasonal variability (Fraile-Nuez et al, 2010 (JGR); Hernández-Guerra et al, 2002 (DSR)). However those studies where focused on the eastern islands channels missing the variability through the western island channels which are the main source of long lived eddies. In order to fill this gap from November 2012 until September 2013 we conducted trimonthly surveys crossing the whole islands channels using opportunity ships (Naviera Armas Ferries). XBT and XCTD where launched along the cross channels transects. Additionally a closed box circling the Archipelago was performed on October 2013 as part of the cruise RAPROCAN-2013 (IEO) using also XBT and XCTD. Dynamical variables where derived inferring salinity from S(T,p) analytical relationships for the region updated with new XCTD data. High resolution, vertical sections of temperature, potential density, geostrophic velocity and transport where obtained. Our preliminary results suggest that the CC suffer a noticeable acceleration in those islands channels where eddy shedding is more frequent. They also indicate a clearly seasonal variability of the flows passing the islands channels. With this regard we observed significant differences on the obtained seasonal variability with respect the cited past studies on the eastern islands channel (Lanzarote / Fuerteventura - Africa coast). This work was co-funded by Canary Government (TRAMIC project: PROID20100092) and the European Union (FEDER).

ABSTRACT Objective: To determine the current incidence as well as general and ethnic trends of penile carcinoma in northern Trinidad and Tobago. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on all cases of penile carcinoma presenting in north and east Trinidad, as well as Tobago over an eight-year period. Results: There were 19 cases from October 2003 to February 2012 with an age range of 42–96 years, mean of 59 years; peak age of presentation was 41–50 years and the number of cases presenting per year varied from one to four, with an average of three new cases yearly. Of 19 cases, 63% (12) originated from Port-of-Spain General Hospital (POSGH), 26% (5) from Sangre Grande (SGH) and 11% (2) from Tobago (TRH). There were 14 (74%) patients of African descent, three mixed and two of East Indian descent. There were four associated inflammatory lesions, five with ulcers, five verrucous lesions and two (10.5%) with human papillomavirus (HPV). One case presented with metastatic disease to the groin with erosion into the common femoral artery resulting in a blow-out of the vessel. The patient had the vessel oversewn and an extra-anatomic bypass done. He later had an above-knee amputation due to graft infection and failure. Conclusion: The incidence of penile carcinoma in north Trinidad and in Tobago is low and has halved in the past two decades. It stands at 0.6 cases per 100 000 males with the peak age group being 41–50 years, and with 95% of cases occurring between 41 and 80 years. There is a statistically significant association with active infection and being Afro-Caribbean. The decreasing incidence may be attributed to better hygiene, a higher rate of circumcision and low HPV rates in our population. PMID:25803395

The determination of plant water status from leaf water potential (Psi L) data obtained by conventional methods is impractical for meeting real time irrigation monitoring requirements. This research, undertaken first, in a greenhouse and then in the field, examined the use of artificial neural network (ANN) modeling of RGB (red green blue) images, captured by a ground-based, five mega pixel digital camera, to predict the leaf water potential of potato (Solanum tuberosum L). The greenhouse study examined cv. Russet Burbank, while the field study examined cv. Sangre. The protocol was similar in both studies: (1) images were acquired over different soil nitrate (N) and volumetric water content levels, (2) images were radiometrically calibrated, (3) green foliage was classified and extracted from the images, and (4) image transformations, and vegetation indices were calculated and transformed using principal components analysis (PCA). The findings from both studies were similar: (1) the R and G bands were more important than the B image band in the classification of green leaf pigment, (2) soil N showed an inverse linear relationship against leaf reflectance in the G image band, (3) the ANN model input neuron weights with more separation between soil N and PsiL were more important than other input neurons in predicting PsiL, and (4) the measured and predicted PsiL validation datasets were normally distributed with equal variances and means that were not significantly different. Based on these research findings, the ground-based digital camera proved to be an adequate sensor for image acquisition and a practical tool for acquiring data for predicting the PsiL of potato plants. Keywords: nitrogen, IHS transformation, chromaticity transformation, principal components, vegetation indices, remote sensing, artificial neural network, digital camera.

In Taos County, ground water generally is unconfined and moves toward the Rio Grande or perennial streams. Water quality is good except in some areas where water has high values of specific conductance and hardness and contains high concentrations of dissolved solids and fluoride. Most wells are completed in alluvial sediments of Quaternary and Tertiary age in the Costilla Plains. A few wells are completed in basalt of the Taos Plateau and in alluvium of stream channels in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Depths to water in wells range from less than 1 to 1,080 feet below land surface. Well yields range from 1 to 3,000 gallons per minute. Water levels in wells in Sunshine Valley dropped 5 to 50 feet between 1955 and 1970. Ground-water irrigation has since declined and water levels have risen. Surface-water records show the county is a net producer of water. The average discharge gained in the Rio Grande as it flows through the county was 271,700 acre-feet per year for water years 1931-89. The highest mean monthly discharge occurs in May or June due to snowmelt runoff. Water quality ranges from good in upstream reaches to fair in lower reaches. Surface water was the source for 93 percent of water withdrawn in 1990, but ground water was used for all public supply, domestic, and industrial purposes. The largest water use is irrigation. About 28,500 acres were irrigated in 1990; alfalfa, native pasture, and planted pasture accounted for 91 percent of this acreage.

The Sangre de Cristo and Nacimiento uplifts of the southern Rocky Mountains formed key parts of a major Paleogene topographic boundary separating the Cordilleran orogenic system from the North American plate interior. This barrier largely isolated interior Laramide basins from a broad Laramide foreland with fluvial systems draining to the Gulf of Mexico, and thereby played a critical role in the evolution of continental-scale paleodrainage patterns. New detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology and heavy mineral provenance analyses of Cretaceous-Paleogene siliciclastic strata in the Raton, Galisteo-El Rito, and San Juan basins record the partitioning of the broad Cordilleran (Sevier) foreland basin by Laramide basement uplifts. These trends are recognized both in provenance signals and depositional styles corresponding to cratonward (eastward) propagation of the Laramide deformation front and resultant advance of flexural depocenters in the North American interior. Along the eastern flank of the deformation front, the Raton basin shows a mix of Cordilleran, Appalachian, and Grenville age zircons restricted to the Cretaceous Dakota and Vermejo formations, marine units of the Western Interior Seaway. Upsection, the Cordilleran age peaks are absent from Paleocene-Eocene units, consistent with significant Laramide drainage reorganization and isolation from Cordilleran sources to the west. In the Galisteo-El Rito basin system, a shift to dominantly Mazatzal-Yavapai basement ages is recognized in the Paleocene El Rito and Oligocene Ritito formations. The heavy mineral results show a corresponding shift to less mature, dominantly metamorphic source compositions. These new datasets bear upon Cretaceous-Cenozoic reconstructions of North American paleodrainage and have implications for potential linkages between major fluvial systems of the southern Rocky Mountains and Paleogene deepwater reservoir units in the Gulf of Mexico basin.

Infiltration events in channels that flow only sporadically produce focused recharge to the Tesuque aquifer in the Espa?ola Basin. The current study examined the quantity and timing of streamflow and associated infiltration in Arroyo Hondo, an unregulated mountain-front stream that enters the basin from the western slope of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Traditional methods of stream gaging were combined with environmental-tracer based methods to provide the estimates. The study was conducted during a three-year period, October 1999?October 2002. The period was characterized by generally low precipitation and runoff. Summer monsoonal rains produced four brief periods of streamflow in water year 2000, only three of which extended beyond the mountain front, and negligible runoff in subsequent years. The largest peak flow during summer monsoon events was 0.59 cubic meters per second. Snowmelt was the main contributor to annual streamflow. Snowmelt produced more cumulative flow downstream from the mountain front during the study period than summer monsoonal rains. The presence or absence of streamflow downstream of the mountain front was determined by interpretation of streambed thermographs. Infiltration rates were estimated by numerical modeling of transient vertical streambed temperature profiles. Snowmelt extended throughout the instrumented reach during the spring of 2001. Flow was recorded at a station two kilometers downstream from the mountain front for six consecutive days in March. Inverse modeling of this event indicated an average infiltration rate of 1.4 meters per day at this location. For the entire study reach, the estimated total annual volume of infiltration ranged from 17,100 to 246,000 m3 during water years 2000 and 2001. During water year 2002, due to severe drought, streamflow and streambed infiltration in the study reach were both zero.

This Oil Bypass Filter Technology Evaluation quarterly report (April–June 2004) details the ongoing fleet evaluation of an oil bypass filter technology by the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) FreedomCAR & Vehicle Technologies Program. Eight INEEL four-cycle diesel engine buses used to transport INEEL employees on various routes and six INEEL Chevrolet Tahoes with gasoline engines are equipped with oil bypass filter systems from the puraDYN Corporation. The bypass filters are reported to have engine oil filtering capability of <1 micron and a built-in additive package to facilitate extended oil-drain intervals. This quarter, the eight diesel engine buses traveled 85,632 miles. As of the end of June 2004, the eight buses have accumulated 498,814 miles since the beginning of the test and 473,192 miles without an oil change. This represents an avoidance of 39 oil changes, which equates to 1,374 quarts (343 gallons) of new oil not consumed and, furthermore, 1,374 quarts of waste oil not generated. One bus had its oil changed due to the degraded quality of the engine oil. Also this quarter, the six Tahoe test vehicles traveled 48,193 miles; to date, the six Tahoes have accumulated 109,708 total test miles. The oil for all six of the Tahoes was changed this quarter due to low Total Base Numbers (TBN). The oil used initially in the Tahoe testing was recycled oil; the recycled oil has been replaced with Castrol virgin oil, and the testing was restarted. However, the six Tahoe’s did travel a total of 98,266 miles on the initial engine oil. This represents an avoidance of 26 oil changes, which equates to 130 quarts (32.5 gallons) of new oil not consumed and, consequently, 130 quarts of waste oil not generated. Based on the number of oil changes avoided by the test buses and Tahoes to date, the potential engine oil savings if an oil bypass filter system were used was estimated for the INEEL, DOE

Background The Amazonian medicinal plant Sangre de grado (Croton palanostigma) has traditional applications for the treatment of wound healing and inflammation. We sought to characterize two extracts (progrado and zangrado) in terms of safety and oligomeric proanthocyanidin chain length. Additionally progrado was evaluated for antioxidant activity and possible chondroprotective actions. Methods Acute oral safety and toxicity was tested in rats according under OECD protocol number 420. The profile of proanthocyanidin oligomers was determined by HPLC and progrado's antioxidant activity quantified by the ORAC, NORAC and HORAC assays. Human cartilage explants, obtained from surgical specimens, were used to assess chondroproteciton with activity related to direct inhibitory effects on human matrix metalloproteinase (MMP, gelatinolytic) activity using synovial fluid and chondrocytes activated with IL-1β (10 ng/ml). Additionally, progrado (2–10 μg/ml) was tested for its ability to maintain optimal IGF-1 transcription and translation in cartilage explants and cultured chondrocytes. Results Both progrado and zangrado at doses up to 2000 mg/kg (po) displayed no evidence of toxicity. Oligomeric proanthocyanidin content was high for both progrado (158 mg/kg) and zangrado (124 mg/kg), with zangrado almost entirely composed of short oligomers (<6 mer), whereas the majority of oligomers in progrado exceeded 10 mers. Progrado was a remarkably potent antioxidant in the standardized tests ORAC, NORAC and HORAC. Progrado was exceptionally effective in reducing both basal and IL-1β induced glycosaminoglycan release from human cartilage explants at concentrations that also directly blocked the gelatinolytic activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9. Progrado prevented IL-1β induced suppression of IGF-1 production from human cartilage explants as well as stimulating basal IGF-1 production (P < 0.05). Comparable changes in IGF-1 gene expression were noted in cultured human chondrocytes

In 1974 petrodollars helped to boost living standards for many of the population of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Yet, a failure to address the consequences of uncontrolled urbanization, especially in and around the capital, Port of Spain, threatens to undermine further improvements in the quality of Trinidadian life. Trinidad's urbanization has been associated with upward social mobility and a burgeoning middle class, such that social aspirations and spatial mobility tend to coincide. Thus, internal migration has involved a heterogeneous mixture of classes with the common denominator being a desire to improve one's standard of living. For most this means residence in or proximity to Port of Spain, the country's commercial, administrative, and cultural hub. Migration into and within Port of Spain and northwest corridors of West and East St. George County has contributed to several tricky problems, overwhelming regional planning efforts, inflating the costs of houses and land, and accelerating social alienation among urban Trinidadians. Problems could have been eased if government planning had given adequate recognition to spatial variations in societal organization, regional economic structures, and resource distribution. Trinidad changed markedly in the years 1974-81. New wealth has brought its own problems and old problems have worsened for lack of attention. The idea of decentralized growth poles at Sangre Grande, Point Fortin, La Brea, and Guayaguayare-Galeota now seems impossible to realize. The Capital region has for 10 years been absorbing a larger share of the population, now roughly half the total. It generates virtually all the island's employment opportunities and attracts the lion's share of private sector investment. Overcrowding in residences, unsanitary drainage, shortages of potable water, traffic congestion, and air pollution all have reduced the quality of life compared to 10 years ago. From 1974 onward the issue of economic development no

Background Throughout history women have tried to control or enhance their fertility using herbal remedies, with various levels of societal support. Caribbean folk medicine has been influenced by European folk medicine, either through the early Spanish and French settlers or through the continuous immigration of Spanish-speaking peoples from Venezuela. Some folk uses are ancient and were documented by Galen and Pliny the Elder. Methods Thirty respondents, ten of whom were male were interviewed from September 1996 to September 2000. The respondents were obtained by snowball sampling, and were found in thirteen different sites, 12 in Trinidad (Paramin, Talparo, Sangre Grande, Mayaro, Carapichaima, Kernahan, Newlands, Todd's Road, Arima, Guayaguayare, Santa Cruz, Port of Spain and Siparia) and one in Tobago (Mason Hall). Snowball sampling was used because there was no other means of identifying respondents and to cover the entire islands. The validation of the remedies was conducted with a non-experimental method. Results Plants are used for specific problems of both genders. Clusea rosea, Urena sinuata and Catharanthus roseus are used for unspecified male problems. Richeria grandis and Parinari campestris are used for erectile dysfunction. Ageratum conyzoides, Scoparia dulcis, Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita maxima, Gomphrena globosa and Justicia pectoralis are used for prostate problems. The following plants are used for childbirth and infertility: Mimosa pudica, Ruta graveolens, Abelmoschus moschatus, Chamaesyce hirta, Cola nitida, Ambrosia cumanenesis, Pilea microphylla, Eryngium foetidum, Aristolochia rugosa, Aristolochia trilobata, Coleus aromaticus, Laportea aestuans and Vetiveria zizanioides. The following plants are used for menstrual pain and unspecified female complaints: Achyranthes indica, Artemisia absinthium, Brownea latifolia, Eleutherine bulbosa, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, Eupatorium macrophyllum, Justicia secunda, Parthenium hysterophorus, Wedelia trilobata

While many major rivers around the world originate from alpine snowpacks in mountain regions, some experience the extreme contrast of flowing through harsh desert environments downriver. One such stream is the Rio Grande which rises in the San Juan and the Sangre de Christo mountains of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. Eventually, the snow fed Rio Grande flows through North America's largest desert, the Chihuahuan Desert in New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico, and simultaneously becomes part of the border between the United States and Mexico. As is often true, urban areas develop along the river corridors rather than in more inaccessible mountain regions. This demographic preference tends to isolate the vast majority of population in the Rio Grande, who are dependent on water for their livelihoods, from the mountain snowpacks where the flow is generated. Ironically then, snow is seldom viewed as the source of the much needed water flowing through the desert by the majority of the basin's population. In arid regions of the western U.S., water demand far exceeds the water supply, and water use is apportioned under the doctrine of prior appropriation with the oldest right getting the first use of water. The increasing population in urban areas does not usually have a right to use the water flowing through the desert unless water rights have been purchased by municipalities from the major category of water user in these basins, namely, irrigated agriculture. In the entire Rio Grande basin, irrigation makes up 80% of the consumptive use of water. Additionally, basin compacts and international treaties apportion water between states and countries. Because these formal agreements were based on above average runoff years, there is little flexibility in changing the use of water, particularly in dry to normal runoff years. Most of the older water rights in the Rio Grande, especially the upper basin, are supplied by snowmelt. This leaves the lower basin to depend upon

The PPFS is a N-trending fault system extending over 80 km in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of northern New Mexico. Precambrian basement rocks are offset 37 km in a right-lateral sense; however, this offset includes dextral strike-slip (Precambrian), mostly normal dip-slip (Pennsylvanian), mostly reverse dip-slip (Early Laramide), limited strike-slip (Late Laramide) and mostly normal dip-slip (Cenozoic). The PPFS is broken into at least 3 segments by the NE-trending Embudo fault and by several Laramide age NW-trending tear faults. These segments are (from N to S): the Taos, the Picuris, and the Pecos segments. On the east side of the Picuris segment in the Picuris Mountains, the Oligocene-Miocene age Miranda graben developed and represents a complex extension zone south of the Embudo fault. Regional analysis of remotely sensed data and geologic maps indicate that lineaments subparallel to the trace of the PPFS are longer and less frequent than lineaments that trend orthogonal to the PPFS. Significant cross cutting faults and subtle changes in fault trends in each segment are clear in the lineament data. Detailed mapping in the eastern Picuris Mountains showed that the favorably oriented Picuris segment was not reactivated in the Tertiary development of the Rio Grande rift. Segmentation of the PPFS and post-Laramide annealing of the Picuris segment are interpreted to have resulted in the development of the subparallel La Serna fault. The Picuris segment of the PPFS is offset by several E-ESE trending faults. These faults are Late Cenozoic in age and interpreted to be related to the uplift of the Picuris Mountains and the continuing sinistral motion on the Embudo fault. Differential subsidence within the Miranda graben caused the development of several synthetic and orthogonal faults between the bounding La Serna and Miranda faults. Analysis of over 10,000 outcrop scale brittle structures reveals a strong correlation between faults and fracture systems. The dominant

Located within the northern boundary of the Great Sand Dunes National Park is the Crestone Crater, a elliptical bowl-shaped feature consisting of a raised rim surrounding a central depression. The elongate crater has an approximate diameter of 100 m and reaches a depth of 10 m at its center relative to its rim, which rises 10 m above the elevation of the surrounding surface. Its precise origin is largely unknown and has perplexed regional geologists and residents of Crestone, Colorado for more than 80 years. This project used on-site and remote geophysical methods to characterize the processes that led to the geomorphologic surface expression observed today. Formation hypotheses examined encompass extraterrestrial, eolian, and periglacial processes. Field methods included a new gravity survey and reanalysis of gravity data collected in a previous student investigation of the feature. Additionally, a recent LiDAR dataset spanning San Luis Valley was examined to analyze the main structure, similar features in the area, and surrounding eolian and alluvial surfaces. An extraterrestrial origin, as suggested by numerous previous investigators, was deemed unlikely due to the non-unique gravity signature of the crater, its topographic similarity to many other like features identified in San Luis Valley, as well as its failure to excavate below the elevation of the surrounding surface. Furthermore, the expression of confirmed eolian landforms in San Luis Valley indicates that eolian processes alone would not produce such a prominent form in the level of vegetation observed. Proximal glacial deposits in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains show that the windblown sand in which all these features are clustered is adjacent to areas of past glaciations, and thus would have been affected by freeze-thaw cycles and thin, localized permafrost. Ice extent maps provided by the Colorado Geological Survey, as well as research on the timing of the formation of the Great Sand Dunes reinforce

Global climate model (GCM) simulations of the last glacial maximum (LGM) in the western United States predict changes in atmospheric circulation and storm tracks that would have resulted in significantly less-than-modern precipitation in the Northwest and northern Rockies, and significantly more-than-modern precipitation in the Southwest and southern Rockies. Model simulations also suggest that late Pleistocene pluvial lakes in the intermontane West may have modified local moisture regimes in areas immediately downwind. In this study, we present results of the application of a coupled energy/mass balance and glacier-flow model (Plummer and Phillips, 2003) to reconstructed paleoglaciers in Rocky Mountains of Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming to assess the changes from modern climate that would have been necessary to sustain each glacier in mass-balance equilibrium at its LGM extent. Results demonstrate that strong west-to-east and north-to-south gradients in LGM precipitation, relative to present, would be required if a uniform LGM temperature depression with respect to modern is assumed across the region. At an assumed 7oC temperature depression, approximately modern precipitation would have been necessary to support LGM glaciation in the Colorado Front Range, significantly less than modern precipitation to support glaciation in the Teton Range, and almost twice modern precipitation to sustain glaciers in the Wasatch and Uinta ranges of Utah and the New Mexico Sangre de Cristo Range. The observed west-to-east (Utah-to-Colorado) LGM moisture gradient is consistent with precipitation enhancement from pluvial Lake Bonneville, decreasing with distance downwind from the lake. The north-to-south (Wyoming-to-New Mexico) LGM moisture gradient is consistent with a southward LGM displacement of the mean winter storm track associated with the winter position of the Pacific Jet Stream across the western U.S. Our analysis of paleoglacier extents in the Rocky Mountain

The Ute Mountain 7.5' quadrangle is located in the south-central part of the San Luis Basin of northern New Mexico, in the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, and contains deposits that record volcanic, tectonic, and associated alluvial and colluvial processes over the past four million years. Ute Mountain has the distinction of being one of the largest intermediate composition eruptive centers of the Taos Plateau, a largely volcanic tableland occupying the southern portion of the San Luis Basin. Ute Mountain rises to an elevation in excess of 3,000 m, nearly 700 m above the basaltic plateau at its base, and is characterized by three distinct phases of Pliocene eruptive activity recorded in the stratigraphy exposed on the flanks of the mountain and in the Rio Grande gorge. Unconformably overlain by largely flat-lying lava flows of Servilleta Basalt, the area surrounding Ute Mountain records a westward thickening of basin-fill volcanic deposits interstratified in the subsurface with Pliocene basin-fill sedimentary deposits derived from older Tertiary and Precambrian sources to the east. Superimposed on this volcanic stratigraphy are alluvial and colluvial deposits derived from the flanks of Ute Mountain and more distally-derived alluvium from the uplifted Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the east, that record a complex temporal and stratigraphic succession of Quaternary basin deposition and erosion. Pliocene and younger basin deposition was accommodated along predominantly north-trending fault-bounded grabens. These poorly exposed fault scarps cutting lava flows of Ute Mountain volcano. The Servilleta Basalt and younger surficial deposits record largely down-to-east basinward displacement. Faults are identified with varying confidence levels in the map area. Recognizing and mapping faults developed near the surface in young, brittle volcanic rocks is difficult because: (1) they tend to form fractured zones tens of meters wide rather than discrete fault planes, (2

Sulfur isotope study of the Velardeña skarn (Zn-Pb), Durango, Mexico Abigail Jimenez-Franco1*, Pura Alfonso Abella2, Carles Canet3, Eduardo González-Partida4 1 Posgrado en Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Delegación Coyoacán, 04510 México D.F., Mexico 2 Departament d'Enginyeria Minera i Recursos Naturals, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Av de Les Bases de Manresa 61-73, 08242 Manresa. 3Instituto de Geofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Delegación Coyoacán, 04510 México D.F., Mexico 4Centro de Geociencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, Boulevard Juriquilla 3001, 76230 Santiago de Querétaro, Qro., Mexico The Velardeña mining district is located in north-eastern part of the state of Durango, in northern of Mexico. The ore deposit is a lead-zinc, garnet-rich skarn developed at the contact between granite porphyry dikes (Eocene) and well-laminated limestones with interbedded chert (Albian-Cenomanian). A study of sulfur isotopes has been carried out in various sulfide minerals of the ores of Velardeña, in order to: (a) constrain the possible sources of sulfur and, therefore, better understand the sulfide mineralizing processes, and (b) to estimate the temperature of the ore-forming stage of the skarn. Sulfur isotope analyses were performed in 21 pure fractions of sulfide minerals of the ore mineralization (pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and galena). The mineral separation was performed using a series of sieves, and the purity of the samples was verified under a binocular microscope. Isotopic analyses were done on a Finnigan MAT Delta C flow elemental analyzer coupled to a TC-EA, according with the method of Giesemann et al. (1974). The δ34S values of the analyzed sulfides range mostly between -0.6 and +2.6 ‰ (relative to the CDT standard). These values are indicative of a magmatic source of sulfur. A single analysis falls

Orographic precipitation and wind-blown snow appear to significantly influence the evolution of glaciated mountain ranges, and in narrow ranges the effect is opposite from orographic precipitation in non-glaciated ranges. While fluvially-eroded ranges tend to be exhumed more on the windward side, glacially-eroded ranges can experience greater erosion on the leeward side. On the timescale of an individual glaciation, the distribution of precipitation and settling is a key component of glacier mass balance and ice extent, while on longer timescales, the interaction of precipitation and topography can play a major role in landscape evolution and range morphology. Numerical modelling of last glacial maximum (LGM) ice extents for catchments on the eastern side of the Southern Alps, New Zealand, highlights the importance of the distribution of precipitation. The accumulation areas of the glaciers would have experienced much greater precipitation than lower elevations, because of the pronounced orographic precipitation gradient, so glacier length is very sensitive to the precipitation distribution employed for any given temperature change. This is particularly challenging given the lack of modern snow monitoring at high altitudes within the Southern Alps, the likelihood of steep accumulation gradients amongst high topography, below the resolution of current datasets, and the difficulty of extrapolating modern values to the LGM. The Sangre de Cristo Range, southern Colorado, and the Bitterroot Range on the Idaho-Montana border both run close to north-south, cross-cutting the prevailing westerly winds. Drainage basins on both sides of the ranges cover similar areas, but moraines are much more substantial on the eastern sides, indicating greater glacial incision, which we suggest at least partly reflects snow blown over the range crest. The Uinta Mountains, Utah, run west-east, parallel to prevailing winds, and show topographic asymmetry across individual catchments, rather

In the mountainous American Southwest, the Rio Grande basin is a prime example of how conflicts, misconceptions, and competition regarding water can arise in arid and semi-arid catchments. Much of the Rio Grande runoff originates from snow fields in the San Juan Mountains of southern Colorado and the Sangre De Cristo Mountains of northern New Mexico, far from population centers. Large and rapidly growing cities, like Albuquerque, Las Cruces, El Paso, and Juarez, are located along the Rio Grande where it flows through the Chihuahuan Desert, the largest desert in North America(two NSF Long Term Ecological Research sites are located in the desert portion of the basin). As a result, the importance of snowmelt, which makes up 50-75% or more of the total streamflow in sub-basins above Elephant Butte Reservoir(in south central New Mexico) is hardly known to the general public. Streamflow below Elephant Butte Reservoir is rainfall driven and very limited, with the lower basin receiving only 170-380 mm of precipitation annually, most of it occurring during the months of July-September. Extreme events, such as drought and flooding, are not unusual in arid basins, and they are of increasing concern with regard to changes in frequency of such events under the impending conditions of climate change. Current water demands in the basin already exceed the water supply by 15% or more, so streamflow forecasts(especially from snowmelt runoff) are extremely valuable for efficient water management as well as for proper apportionment of water between Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas under the Rio Grande Compact of 1938 and between the U.S. and Mexico under the Treaty of 1906. Other demands on the water supply include Indian water rights, flood regulation, irrigated agriculture, municipal and industrial demands, water quality, riverine and riparian habitat protection, endangered and threatened species protection, recreation, and hydropower. To assess snow accumulation and cover and to

Prologue Welcome to the 2007 Rocky Mountain Cell Friends of the Pleistocene Field Trip, which will concentrate on the Quaternary geology of the San Luis Basin of Colorado and New Mexico. To our best knowledge, Friends of the Pleistocene (FOP) has never run a trip through the San Luis Basin, although former trips in the region reviewed the 'Northern Rio Grande rift' in 1987 and the 'Landscape History and Processes on the Pajarito Plateau' in 1996. After nearly a decade, the FOP has returned to the Rio Grande rift, but to an area that has rarely hosted a trip with a Quaternary focus. The objective of FOP trips is to review - in the field - new and exciting research on Quaternary geoscience, typically research being conducted by graduate students. In our case, the research is more topically oriented around three areas of the San Luis Basin, and it is being conducted by a wide range of Federal, State, academic, and consulting geologists. This year's trip is ambitious?we will spend our first day mainly on the Holocene record around Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, the second day on the Quaternary stratigraphy around the San Luis Hills, including evidence for Lake Alamosa and the 1.0 Ma Mesita volcano, and wrap up the trip's third day in the Costilla Plain and Sunshine Valley reviewing alluvial stratigraphy, the history of the Rio Grande, and evidence for young movement on the Sangre de Cristo fault zone. In the tradition of FOP trips, we will be camping along the field trip route for this meeting. On the night before our trip, we will be at the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve's Pinyon Flats Campground, a group facility located about 2 miles north of the Visitors Center. After the first day's trip, we will dine and camp in the Bachus pit, about 3 miles southwest of Alamosa. For the final night (after day 2), we will bed down at La Junta Campground at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wild and Scenic Rivers State Recreation Area, west of Questa

Great Sand Dunes National Monument is located in south-central Colorado along the eastern edge of the San Luis Valley. The Great Sand Dunes National Monument contains the tallest sand dunes in North America; some rise up to750 feet. Important ecological features of the Great Sand Dunes National Monument are palustrine wetlands associated with interdunal ponds and depressions along the western edge of the dune field. The existence and natural maintenance of the dune field and the interdunal ponds are dependent on maintaining ground-water levels at historic elevations. To address these concerns, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a study, in collaboration with the National Park Service, of ground-water flow direction, water quality, recharge sources, and age at the Great Sand Dunes National Monument. A shallow unconfined aquifer and a deeper confined aquifer are the two principal aquifers at the Great Sand Dunes National Monument. Ground water in the unconfined aquifer is recharged from Medano and Sand Creeks near the Sangre de Cristo Mountain front, flows underneath the main dune field, and discharges to Big and Little Spring Creeks. The percentage of calcium in ground water in the unconfined aquifer decreases and the percentage of sodium increases because of ionic exchange with clay minerals as the ground water flows underneath the dune field. It takes more than 60 years for the ground water to flow from Medano and Sand Creeks to Big and Little Spring Creeks. During this time, ground water in the upper part of the unconfined aquifer is recharged by numerous precipitation events. Evaporation of precipitation during recharge prior to reaching the water table causes enrichment in deuterium (2H) and oxygen-18 (18O) relative to waters that are not evaporated. This recharge from precipitation events causes the apparent ages determined using chlorofluorocarbons and tritium to become younger, because relatively young precipitation water is mixing with older waters

Pajarito Plateau is described as the high tableland that lies between the Jemez Mountains on the west and the Rio Grande on the east. From north to south, it extends from the Chama Valley to La Cañada de Cochiti (Hewett 1906:14)(Figure 1). Because human activity rarely stops at such definite boundaries, major ethnographic studies of Tewa (San Ildefonso and Santa Clara) and Keres (Cochiti) linguistic groups are included. (Even though most of the historic pueblos occupied by the Tewa and Keres are not located on the Pajarito Plateau, oral traditions and archaeological data suggest that these groups once occupied sites on the plateau.) Towa studies are not included because Steen believed Towa ancestors were not involved in major cultural developments of the Pajarito Plateau. In addition, a bibliography of the Jemez area (home of Towa people) has been prepared by Michael Elliott (1982) and included with his nomination of large Pueblo sites near Jemez Springs to the National Register of Historic Places that is on file at the Museum of New Mexico, Laboratory of Anthropology, in Santa Fe. Both Steen and Mathien included references to geographically and historically related material that does not focus on the Pajarito Plateau but, nonetheless, is important to understanding the area's archaeology and physical environment, for example, lithic resources available from Cerro Pedernal or in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

We show here that epithermal mineralization in the Guazapares Mining District is closely related to extensional deformation and magmatism during the mid-Cenozoic ignimbrite flare-up of the Sierra Madre Occidental silicic large igneous province, Mexico. Three Late Oligocene-Early Miocene synextensional formations are identified by detailed volcanic lithofacies mapping in the study area: (1) ca. 27.5 Ma Parajes formation, composed of silicic outflow ignimbrite sheets; (2) ca. 27-24.5 Ma Témoris formation, consisting primarily of locally erupted mafic-intermediate composition lavas and interbedded fluvial and debris flow deposits; (3) ca. 24.5-23 Ma Sierra Guazapares formation, composed of silicic vent to proximal ignimbrites, lavas, subvolcanic intrusions, and volcaniclastic deposits. Epithermal low-to intermediate-sulfidation, gold-silver-lead-zinc vein and breccia mineralization appears to be associated with emplacement of Sierra Guazapares formation rhyolite plugs and is favored where pre-to-synvolcanic extensional structures are in close association with these hypabyssal intrusions. Several resource areas in the Guazapares Mining District are located along the easternmost strands of the Guazapares Fault Zone, a NNW-trending normal fault system that hosts most of the epithermal mineralization in the mining district. This study describes the geology that underlies three of these areas, which are, from north to south: (1) The Monte Cristo resource area, which is underlain primarily by Sierra Guazapares formation rhyolite dome collapse breccia, lapilli-tuffs, and fluvially reworked tuffs that interfinger with lacustrine sedimentary rocks in a synvolcanic half-graben bounded by the Sangre de Cristo Fault. Deposition in the hanging wall of this half-graben was concurrent with the development of a rhyolite lava dome-hypabyssal intrusion complex in the footwall; mineralization is concentrated in the high-silica rhyolite intrusions in the footwall and along the

This dissertation includes three separate chapters, each demonstrating the interpretive utility of potential field (gravity and magnetic) geophysical datasets at various scales and in various geologic environments. The locations of these studies are the central San Luis Basin of Colorado and New Mexico, the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado, and southern and western Afghanistan. The San Luis Basin is the northernmost of the major basins that make up the Rio Grande rift, and interpretation of gravity and aeromagnetic data reveals patterns of rifting, rift-sediment thicknesses, distribution of pre-rift volcanic and sedimentary rocks, and distribution of syn-rift volcanic rocks. Syn-rift Santa Fe Group sediments have a maximum thickness of ˜2 km in the Sanchez graben near the eastern margin of the basin along the central Sangre de Cristo fault zone. Under the Costilla Plains, thickness of these sediments is estimated to reach ˜1.3 km. The Santa Fe Group sediments also reach a thickness of nearly 1 km within the Monte Vista graben near the western basin margin along the San Juan Mountains. A narrow, north-south-trending structural high beneath San Pedro Mesa separates the graben from the structural depression beneath the Costilla Plains. Aeromagnetic anomalies are interpreted to mainly reflect variations of remanent magnetic polarity and burial depth of the 5.3-3.7 Ma Servilleta basalt of the Taos Plateau volcanic field. Magnetic-source depth estimates indicate patterns of subsidence following eruption of the basalt and show that the Sanchez graben has been the site of maximum subsidence. One of the largest and most pronounced gravity lows in North America lies over the rugged San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado. A buried, low-density silicic batholith related to an Oligocene volcanic field coincident with the San Juan Mountains has been the accepted interpretation of the source of the gravity low since the 1970s. However, this interpretation was